The Stranger
by Naisa
Summary: Amy loves travelling with the Doctor, but she feels that something's missing in her life, there's a hole in her heart which will not heal. As monsters and murderers begin to take over the streets of a future London, a mysterious stranger reveals to her that the Doctor isn't all he seems, but who can she really trust? AU after Rory's death in s5 ep 9. Re-edited and complete!
1. Chapter 1

_Greetings fellow Doctor Who fans!_

_This is a story I wrote a few years ago, and I've been thinking for a while about re-editing it to improve the story line and spelling etc, and I have finally got round to doing so!_

_It's based during series 5, after Rory dies and Amy loses her memory of him in episode 9, it goes AU from there with a future deserted London shrouded in darkness and mysterious creatures roaming the streets spilling blood as they go..._

_The first 5 chapters are up and re-edited already and I hope to update the story regularly with new chapters. I always like to know what readers think of the story so reviews are much appreciated :) _

* * *

Chapter 1

"So Amy, where to next?" Asked the Doctor in his usual enthusiastic voice, bouncing around the controls of the TARDIS as if doing some strange dance, flicking random switches and hitting various buttons. He assured Amy that he knew exactly how to use the time machine, but sometimes she had a feeling it was a lot of guess work and a lot of luck.

She smiled but at first said nothing, thinking about where they could go. She loved travelling with the Doctor, the decision making she wasn't so keen on, the Universe was so large and time was so vast, where could she start?

"I know," said the Doctor before Amy could think of a suitable location. "How about a treat?"

"A treat?" Amy grinned; the Doctor was always full of surprises. "What sort of treat?"

"You'll see," the Doctor matched Amy's grin as he almost skipped around the TARDIS, turning and twisting leavers, whacking more buttons, until suddenly the TARDIS burst into life, almost throwing them across the room.

Amy always enjoyed her journeys with the Doctor, she wanted them to last forever and didn't want to go back to her usual boring life, but for some reason she couldn't join in with the Doctor's enthusiasm and excitement like she always did as the TARDIS rocketed them through space. Something was amiss, something had changed, but Amy couldn't put her finger on what the change was, or even when the change had happened. It was almost as if something had disappeared from her life, and she missed it, but she didn't even know what it was. Was it possible to miss something you never even had?

In fact, it was more than that, Amy felt like there was a black pit, an abyss, inside her, deep down in her chest. She kept on putting her mind off it, but when she thought about it, she was overcome with a great sadness, as if she had lost someone very special. But there was no one she could think of who might have caused the black abyss to appear in her chest.

The Doctor didn't seem to think that anything had gone missing though, he was just like he always was, but Amy wondered if it was possible that he also felt something was wrong but was hiding it? She considered saying something, about this emptiness that had suddenly appeared inside her an the feeling that something was amiss, however she always convinced herself not to. She trusted the Doctor with her life, but for some reason she felt like she couldn't share these thoughts and feelings with him. How could she even begin to explain to him how she felt? Would he understand, or just think she was mad?

Amy's mixed feelings and confused thoughts were brought to a sudden halt when a large jolt sent the unexpected Amy skidding across the floor.

"Sorry," said the Doctor, trying to sound guilty, but he was laughing as well. He had been expecting the jolt and had only stumbled back a little, clinging onto a handrail beside the stairs. Amy joined in with the laughter as she always did as she managed to retain her balance, but this time she didn't find it very funny.

As quickly as the TARDIS had burst into a whirl of life it ground to a halt.

"Ah ha, we're here!" Cried the Doctor, leaping to the doors. He paused for a few moments as if to increase the amount of excitement and suspense that was already in the room before he announced where they were. Amy felt the anticipation build up inside her just like the old times, she held her breath.

"London, Earth!"

"London?" Amy repeated, not meaning to sound as disappointed as she felt, "Earth?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, we could have gone anywhere. We could have gone to one of Jupiter's moons, we could have gone to a planet in the shape of a banana, we could have gone to a restaurant at the other side of the Universe." Amy said, "but instead we go back to Earth, to England, to London."

"Ah yes, but you haven't asked me what the date is," the Doctor pointed out, not losing any of his enthusiasm.

"OK then, Doctor what year is it on the outside of this magical blue box?" Amy asked with fake excitement.

"2040!"

"Right...that's less than thirty years into my future, you are aware of that?" _I'll get to 2040 in my own time, _Amy thought to herself, but decided saying that was a little too harsh. The Doctor was still a man full of surprises, she reminded herself, wherever and whenever they went together they still ended up having fun, so what did it matter? She allowed the excitement to build up inside her again as she thought of the adventures they could have outside the TARDIS door.

"Yes, but you don't know what it's like in London 2040." Said the Doctor happily; and Amy had a feeling that a history lesson was coming along, or rather, a future lesson. "For the last ten years on Earth over ninety per-cent of all shopping goods were bought on the Internet, including clothes. Shops were dying out; there was no need for them any more. Then the year 2040 came along, and a massive change has occurred, some of the greatest fashion designers of all time have appeared in just six months! They appealed to people not to go on the Internet to buy clothes, go back to the real shopping experience. Clothing and shopping in general suddenly changed, and for the best. It's nothing like the old shops you're used to, each one is an experience in itself, you could walk into one and find yourself in a rain forest, or an eighties disco! And some of the best of these clothes shops are in the heart of good old London!"

"So, you're taking me shopping?" Amy was slightly confused, but she was no longer complaining.

"Yes, but it's _better _than just that. Take one shop for example - they built a waterfall _within_ the shop, a cascade of foaming liquid constantly tumbling from the ceiling, while you look for a new T-shirt. Imagine! _And_ there's a shop that just sells bow ties! Three floors of bow ties!" The Doctor took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down from all the excitement. "Besides," he continued with a shrug, "you said the other day you wanted some more clothes, so this is my treat for you."

"I did?" Amy couldn't remember saying that, it seemed her memory kept on escaping her these days, but she shrugged. "Well even if I didn't it sounds like the best treat I've had in a long time." Her mood finally lifted and she started to feel like her old self again, she grinned. "May I just ask one thing?" She said as the Doctor placed a hand on the TARDIS door handle.

"Go ahead, there isn't much I don't know."

"Why are you giving me a treat?"

The Doctor's smile flickered for a few moments, but then he simply shrugged again. "Can't I do something nice for my dear friend Amelia Pond who has a fantastic name?"

"Not without looking suspicious you can't, treats are usually because someone has done something good or someone is making up for something." Amy looked at the Doctor carefully, "so, why do I suddenly deserve a treat?"

The Doctor hesitated for a few moments, but then his smile returned, "Tell you what, you're right. This is to make up for me being twelve years late…and then another two years late, but we won't go into the details."

Amy nodded at this, it made sense, but for some reason she didn't believe the Doctor, weren't the past several adventures meant to make up for that? Wasn't merely travelling with him a big enough treat that made it worth the wait? But before she could ask him any more questions, the Doctor had already opened the TARDIS door and walked briskly out into the open. With the thought of a whole new world in front of her, Amy's suspicions disappeared from her mind, this was her treat and she was going to enjoy herself. She loved stepping out of the TARDIS and entering a completely different world, even if it was just a future London.

Amy took a deep breath and followed the Doctor into a world of…

Rain, cold rain. A lot of cold rain, in fact that was understatement, but Amy was finding it hard to find words to describe the sheet of freezing needles that were tumbling down from the sky and landing on her unsuspecting head. The whole world seemed to have been plunged into water and darkness. For a moment she wondered if this was the waterfall shop, but highly doubted it. Amy could barely see anything but the dim walls of old looking buildings towering over her and the Doctor, who was standing ahead of her staring up at the black sky.

"Ah," he said, "it seems we may have caught the weather at a bad time."

"That's one way of putting it," Amy almost had to shout over the rain so she could hear herself. "I thought this was meant to be wonderful London with some of the best shops that have existed for years?"

"I didn't say that it would be the best weather in years, this is global warming for you. Don't worry, it'll clear up soon." The Doctor's clothes were soaked through already but it hadn't dampened his mood.

"I wasn't talking about the weather," said Amy, shivering in the bitter cold. "I meant from what I can see this doesn't look like the great futuristic London I was hoping for."

"Hmm you have a point, this does look more like the back streets of London than a shopping centre to me." Said the Doctor. "I have a habit of doing that..."

"Oh great!" Amy couldn't help but say sarcastically.

Through the rain, the Doctor's eyes narrowed. "But something's not quite right..."

"Yes, mainly because we're not meant to be here," Amy had a feeling her treat wasn't going to be all it summed up to be. She tried to keep her spirits up though, once the rain stopped and they got out of the back streets things would improve.

"No there's something else." The Doctor gazed around at the old brick houses. "These back streets of London are always crowded with people, not always very pleasant people, but people none the less. But here there's no one, it's deserted."

"Well this isn't the Victorian times any more, the streets aren't full of the poor any more, things have probably changed," Amy pointed out. "And they'd want to keep out of the rain."

"Hmm maybe, but I'm not sure," the Doctor said slowly, deep in thought. But suddenly he seemed to cheer up again. "Come on, let's go and see if we can find someone and work out where we are." With that he strolled off into the darkness of the City, Amy almost running to catch up with him.

* * *

In the distance, a hooded figure watched the Doctor and Amy come out of their blue box by the dim light of a lamp hanging precariously from an old house that may have once been a shop. They didn't notice the silent figure, they thought they were completely alone. But no one is ever truly alone.

The stranger was motionless, most of his features hidden from sight, but he gave a dark smile as Amy and the Doctor strolled through the rain and down the street. He waited until they were out of sight before disappearing himself into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Doctor was right, the rain did clear up quickly and the sun began to break through the dark clouds and shine down on Amy, drying her soaked clothes but not lifting her still damp spirits. Despite the sudden change in weather, the streets of London remained dark, dingy and as deserted as before. The Doctor said nothing, only a quick mention that it was going to be a sunny day after all which Amy thought was spoken with rather forced cheeriness. He kept on walking through the streets with more old and boarded up houses, they all looked the same and Amy soon felt like they had entered a rabbit warren. The Doctor walked purposefully as if he knew where he was going, but how could anyone navigate through this maze of streets?

Amy glanced back from where they had just come. The comforting blue of the TARDIS had disappeared, replaced by ominous houses and dark alleyways. If they weren't lost before, they certainly were now. The feeling of bubbling excitement she usually had when they headed somewhere mysterious had been replaced with a butterfly of nerves for Amy on this particular journey. She had a bad feeling about this.

There was no one around, in fact, apart from the houses, there was nothing, not even a rat scurrying along the cracked concrete. Amy was beginning to grow more concerned now, this definitely wasn't right, she wondered if the Doctor had got the dates wrong again and they were actually three hundred years in the past, not the future. This wasn't the wonderful new, wonderful London he had told her about, there were no signs of futuristic technology, and no hints to where these wonderful shops the Doctor talked about would be.

Suddenly something flickered out of the corner of Amy's eye, and she froze.

"Doctor," she called at the figure in front of her, who was still marching along.

"Yes?" The Doctor turned and quickly ran back to the frozen Amy, who was staring down a dark alleyway. "What is it?"

"I thought I saw someone," Amy said slowly, but looking again the alleyway was clearly deserted. Yet she was sure she saw a dark hooded figure standing there, watching her, but he had vanished quick as lightning. Was the time travelling going to her head, was she going mad? The Doctor certainly was, but he didn't seem too bothered about his sanity or the alleyway.

"It was probably nothing," he assured her and began to walk briskly through the streets again.

Amy wasn't as quick to move on, she stood for a few more moments staring down the dark passage way, it was possible that the figure was still there, hiding in one of the many shadows, if she went in there she might find him, or her. But the thought of going down a dark, dingy alleyway on her own that could be hiding any number of things made the hairs on the back of Amy's neck stand on end, and she thought better of it.

The so called 'back streets' of London contained many of these dark alleyways in between old brick houses, with curtains drawn or windows boarded up, there was obviously no one at home. There were a few lights dotted about, street lamps and lamps hanging from the front of houses, which were probably once shops. Amy did feel like she was wandering through Victorian London, she had learnt about the slums at school in history, the only difference between then and now was that there was no one about, and the streets were cleaner. Amy wondered why none of these buildings had been torn down, if London had once more become a great City as the Doctor had pictured in her mind, why hadn't this transformed also?

The Doctor, in the meantime, was beginning to have more luck in finding someone in the ghost City. He looked up and saw a light shining through the top window of a three-storey house, which looked as if it would crumble down into the earth at any moment. Someone would need to be inside to turn the light on.

"Amy!" The Doctor called as he knocked on the door with his usual enthusiasm. "I think I've found someone."

Amy caught up with the Doctor, and stared up at the lit window. There was a short silence before she asked; "Doctor, why is London like this?"

"Perhaps they just haven't got round to redecorating this area yet." The Doctor suggested as he knocked again, there must be someone in there, he felt strangely sure about it, yet there was no reply.

"But that still doesn't explain why there doesn't seem to be anyone about, and if there is anyone they're hiding away and obviously don't want to be seen. Why is that?" Amy questioned.

"They're scared." Said a voice behind Amy and the Doctor before the Doctor could answer. Amy jumped out of her skin and clutched the Doctor's arm. Slowly they both turned round to see where to voice was coming from.

A small man stood before them, with dark skin and hazelnut eyes. Amy guessed he was in his mid-forties. He was very short, and had short yet very thick black hair, which was just starting to turn grey in places. His clothes were old fashioned, he wore a dark green cardigan and pale trousers with black shoes, which were old but looked like they had been regularly polished.

"You're not scared though." The Doctor pointed out, looking the man up and down with slight suspicion at first, but then he put on another one of his broad grins and stepped up to shake the man's hand. "Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Amy."

"Pleased to meet you," said the man, a little nervously, shaking the his hand with slightly less enthusiasm than the Doctor, and making a small nod of his head towards Amy. It was clear he wasn't quite sure what to say or think about these new visitors, but in the end said, "I'm Mr Wells."

"Well Mr Wells, do you know why everyone seems to have disappeared and the rest are too scared to leave their houses?" The Doctor asked.

"Haven't you heard?" Mr Wells asked. Looking at the blank faces staring back at him, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "This place is cursed."

"Cursed," the Doctor repeated, and he and Amy looked at each other excitedly. "Interesting, intriguing, invigorating, and lots of other 'i's I'm sure! I like a good curse. What sort of curse?"

Mr Wells was taken aback by the positive reactions, and he wasn't impressed. "This is nothing to be happy about," he said sternly, "Terrible things happen here. There are stories of monsters walking the streets at night, only these are no fairy tales. People disappear off the streets, never to be seen again, they hardly have time to scream. You can feel something in the air - as if the whole place is haunted. Only the foolish would still be living in a place like this."

"So why are you here?" Amy asked.

"Work," explained Mr Wells with a shrug. "I have no choice, it's the only work I can get. I have a wife and a son, I sent them away to the country, it's safer there but they're depending on the money I make here to keep the roof over their heads."

"Not much has changed in the past twenty years then," Amy mumbled, thinking of how hard it was to find jobs in the present day. "Why can't you find any safer work?"

Mr Wells looked down at the floor as if he was ashamed of something; "I never went to school. I can hardly read, I can't even spell my own name," he explained. "The company said when we finished the work they gave me and my colleagues we could leave here, they offered us new, better careers and housing in return for our hard work. I thought I'd be able to educate myself then, make a better future for my family. But they lied to us; they never said how much the workload was and how long it would take. Then my workmates started to disappear; some of them moved out of here in the hope to find better jobs, others just vanished. My job seems the most cursed of all, there's not many people left now."

"Well perhaps we could help fix this curse," Amy offered, feeling a pang of sympathy for Mr Wells. "Then you would get the job done quicker, get out of here faster."

Mr Wells looked up at them, his eyes flickered with hope and joy for a few moments, but then it died away again. He went back to staring at the floor. "Thank you for your offer, but you won't be able to fix the curse, no one even knows what's making the people disappear like this. It's too dangerous."

"Ah yes, but I like a good mystery," said the Doctor, rubbing his hands together, "and finding out what the curse is will be the first step to fixing things, after that the rest will be easy. There aren't many mysteries I haven't solved."

"And danger's my middle name!" Amy added enthusiastically. She liked a good mystery as much as the Doctor did.

The Doctor looked at her, slightly confused. "No it's not."

It may be because Mr Wells hadn't talked to anyone in such a long time, but he thought these were the most peculiar people he had ever met, but they were also the only people who seemed willing to help. They didn't even seem to be scared by the fact that people were disappearing all the time. Were they some form of police? No, the police had left long ago, and they seemed to know nothing of the curse until he had told them. Perhaps it was because they were new around here, he certainly hadn't seen them before, and they acted and dressed very strangely. The outside world obviously knew nothing of what was happening here. These people were strangers, could he really trust them? He couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope, these newcomers, however odd they may be, really could be able to make a difference.

"You would really help me?" Asked Mr Wells.

The Doctor seemed to take this as a yes. "Well Mr Wells, first let's go and see where you work." He said, putting a friendly arm around his shoulder as if they had known each other for years. This confirmed in Mr Wells' mind that he could trust these people for now, he smiled gingerly back at the Doctor as the three of them walked away, leaving the old, tall house with its light in the window still flickering.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mr Wells' workplace wasn't that far away from where the Doctor and Amy had encountered him. Amy was surprised that they hadn't seen the building he worked in sooner; it was a huge one storey warehouse about the size of a football pitch, it stood out against the small terraced houses like a giant, swollen grey thumb.

Mr Wells led Amy and the Doctor to a door tucked away at the back of the building and unlocked it with a key from around his neck. They entered into a huge, dark room, ominous dark shadows lurked in every corner, there were stairs at the end of the room leading down to more floors underground. Amy sighed with relief when Mr Wells turned the light on to see that the shadows were nothing but rows and rows of shop mannequins covered in plastic sheeting.

Amy gazed into the face of one expressionless mannequin, which seemed to stare back with empty eyes. "Is this some sort of factory?" Amy asked in wonder, looking round at the hundreds of mannequins which she guessed filled the lower floors too.

"No, they're just here for storage." Mr Wells explained, "these mannequins have just come out of the shops, and they won't be going in any for a long time."

"I don't understand, the Doctor said that this was the height of the high street new shopping industry, why are these being taken away?"

"He was right, but a lot of things have changed." Said Mr Wells, looking around at his work with nothing less in his eyes than contempt. "They don't want any plastic shop dummies any more so all they sent them off here where people like me spend our whole time pulling them apart and packaging them, and what do we do this for? So they can be melted down and used as something else. It's a waste of my time." Mr Well's anger suddenly died in his voice and his eyes however, and he looked down at the floor. "But it's the only job I have."

The Doctor too was looking around at the mannequins. He noticed how some had a thick layer of dust upon their plastic heads. "How many mannequins are there?" He asked.

Mr Wells shrugged, "I hate to think, there must be around three-hundred on each floor, and there are three floors all together. It's very near a thousand, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than that."

The Doctor nodded slowly, taking it all in. His eyes fell on a group of two or three mannequins lying uselessly on the floor beside the door they had come through, their limbs sticking out at odd angles as if they were in mid walk.

"What are those doing over there?" He questioned, "Why aren't they in rows as well?"

"That has nothing to do with me," Mr Wells said with an annoyed sigh. "We put them in rows, then we leave for the night and return to find some of the mannequins have moved."

"By themselves?" Amy asked as she wandered up and down looking at the rows of plastic dummies, she felt excitement growing again at the thought of such a mysterious thing occurring at the dead of night. This is what adventures with the Doctor were all about.

"No, nothing like that, probably just kids breaking in here, playing with them and then just dumping them when they've finish." Said Mr Wells, dampening Amy's excitement a little.

"But why would they do that?"

"Bored," Mr Wells suggested, "there's nothing to do around here. It's not that hard to get in the building after all, all you have to do is pick a lock."

"Have you ever seen any of these children?" The Doctor asked, his sonic screwdriver out and glowing its bright green light as he waved them over the mannequins.

"No, but it makes sense, what else could it be? You always hear of children causing some sort of vandalism, and there's not much more they can do around here. They're just plastic, nothing else, Doctor." Mr Wells tried added, as the Doctor continued to examine them, but he wasn't listening.

"Have you ever thought that it might be something else?" He suggested. "If you have never seen these kids, how can you confirm that this is why they are moving? Does it occur every night?"

"No, but sometimes it's more frequent than others. Sometimes I would come in here and every night a week some mannequins would have moved, others only a few times a month."

"When did this start?"

"I'm not sure, a few months ago I think." Mr Wells said, confused by the Doctor's strange questions.

"Just around the time when people started disappearing?" The Doctor said with a tone as ominous as the shadows. Amy watched him carefully as he put his sonic screwdriver away and gazed around the warehouse.

"Yes I think so…but what difference would that make?" Mr Wells said, "Why are you asking me these things Doctor? It's nothing I assure you."

"Well it could be nothing, yet it could be something else entirely." Said the Doctor, more to himself than to Mr Wells as he lifted the plastic off the dummies closest to him and examined the head of one as if there was something locked inside it. He turned back to Mr Wells and Amy: "Mr Wells do you mind if I take a look around on the other floors as well?"

"No that's fine," Mr Wells replied, still slightly confused by the Doctor's strange behaviour.

"You two stay here and discuss whatever humans discuss to pass the time, and I'll go and have a look around." The Doctor gave another one of his cheery grins as if there was nothing to worry about, before disappearing down the stairs.

"Is he always like this?" Mr Wells asked Amy.

"Yeah, pretty much. Although I've never seen him take such an interest in something made of plastic, he's usually into more living things," Amy explained.

"Who is he? Some sort of detective?"

"You could say that," Amy nodded, "would make a good hobby for him if he wasn't already, he would make a good Sherlock Holmes," she smiled to herself.

"I suppose that means you didn't come here on purpose then." Mr Wells said sadly. He wandered over to the only window in the building and stared out at the dull view before him, a longing look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, joining him at the window.

"When I first saw you I thought perhaps the government had finally realised that something was wrong and they had sent someone down here to investigate the strange happenings. But no, you just stumbled upon this on your own accord, no one in the outside world cares about us."

"The Doctor cares," Amy said, putting a comforting hand on Mr Well's arm, "I care. Yes we may not have come here on purpose, we did get a little lost, but I promise you we won't leave until we've found out why all these people are disappearing."

"That's very kind of you," said Mr Wells, smiling weakly. "Just out of curiosity, where were you meant to be going?"

"Shopping," Amy said sheepishly, it seemed silly that only an hour or so ago that she had been looking forward to going out and buying new clothes, when something much more important was happening in this strange future London.

"I thought so." Mr Wells said with a heavy sigh, looking at Amy's dark jeans and red T-shirt. "No offence, but your clothes do look rather…old fashioned."

"Well in that case let's not get started on what the Doctor wears, in fact I haven't seen him in anything else apart from his bow tie and tweed jacket." Amy replied jokily. "Your clothes aren't exactly modern either," she pointed out.

"I can't afford the modern, eccentric, colourful clothes other people wear." Mr Wells explained, looking down at his torn trousers.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to insult you." Amy said quickly.

"That's all right, I know you didn't really mean it." Mr Wells brushed the comment aside as if it was nothing, but he still looked sad. "I do miss old London, when there was more than just shops, that's the only reason why people are going to London these days. Did you know this City was once much more than a huge shopping centre?"

"Well the Doctor only told me that London was famous for its shops this morning." Amy admitted, "but seriously is there nothing left in London but shops?"

"Pretty much." Mr Wells shrugged. "Everything else has decayed and died, and in such a short period of time. People seemed to have forgotten how to care about the past."

"Really there's nothing?" Amy repeated, unable to quite take it in. "Not even the London Eye? The Millennium Dome? The Houses of Parliament? Buckingham Palace?"

"The London eye closed down eight years ago, it was taken apart and is stored like all these dummies in a warehouse somewhere out there." Mr Wells explained, staring out the window again. "The government moved so the Houses of Parliament are now just museums and the Millennium Dome was destroyed after a fire, but no one cares. It's because everyone's obsessed with shopping now; they don't really care about rebuilding the Dome. But Buckingham Palace is still standing, the King stays there occasionally."

"We have a King now?" Amy asked with renewed interest.

"You're really not from round here are you?" Said Mr Wells, who was looking at Amy now as if she was slightly insane, though it was something she was now used to.

"I've been away for a while," she said quickly.

This seemed to end the conversation; Amy went back to staring out the window, looking out at the new world. She had assumed that not much had really changed in thirty years, but now she was surprised and slightly saddened about how much had changed. Parliament had moved but why she had no idea; the London eye and the Dome were no more. The country even had a new ruler, or perhaps there had been more than one change of King and Queen since Amy had been in the UK.

Amy was about to ask Mr Wells more questions about what had changed across the country, and indeed the whole world while she had been gone, when something moved out of the corner of her eye. A darting figure perhaps, ducking out of sight. Amy was horribly reminded of the figure in the alleyway. She knew Mr Wells had seen it too; he had suddenly become very tense.

"Did you see that?" She asked him quickly.

"I, I didn't see anything." Mr Wells stuttered, quickly turning away from the window.

"You're lying," Amy replied, a little more harshly than she had meant to sound. "You saw the figure too, who is it? What is it?"

"I'm sorry Amy I can't answer those questions. I don't know who the figure was. I told you this place is dangerous, there is a curse upon this City." Amy suddenly realised that Mr Wells was shaking. "It's better to pretend that no one is spying on you, that there is no such thing as monsters. I thank you for your help so far but if you want to survive you should leave this place-"

Just then, the Doctor's head appeared at the top of the stairs. "Is everything all right?" He asked. The two pale faces nodded slowly and silently back at him. He didn't seem to realise that something had seriously spooked Amy and Mr Wells, who was still shaking a little. Instead he immediately moved onto whatever discovery he had made in the building which he was longing to tell them:

"Mr Wells I have decided that your mannequins downstairs look absolutely normal." He said.

"Err...Good," said a slightly confused Mr Wells.

"No, that's a bad thing." The Doctor replied, sounding like he was trying to explain something to a child. "Beware of anything that looks normal, because that means it probably isn't and is merely pretending to be. We just need to find what they're hiding exactly, it's like the children breaking in, none of us have seen it so we have no proof."

Mr Wells gave Amy a nervous glance before asking, "What do you suggest Doctor?"

"If the mannequins only move at night, I'm suggesting, that we should stay here over night." The Doctor explained brightly.

"Stay here?" Amy repeated, she didn't like the idea of sleeping in a warehouse filled with shadows and mysterious mannequins.

"Doctor I don't think that's a good idea," Mr Wells began. "We need to be somewhere safe at night, that's when—"

"That's when the monsters come out, which is exactly why we should stay!" The Doctor sounded a little over enthusiastic at this.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Doctor?" Amy asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be all right." The Doctor assured the two nervous faces staring back at him, who didn't believe him at all. "You've got me and my trusty screwdriver!" He pulled the sonic screwdriver out his pocket and waved it in front of their faces. Amy sighed, it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Hours later, Amy found herself lying on the cold, hard floor of the storage room, deciding that shopping would definitely have been better than going after monsters this time. It got dark very quickly in the dull future London; there were no stars or a moon to help illuminate the night. The Doctor had gone back to the TARDIS and brought back blankets for them, but they didn't seem to help to soften the floor or keep Amy warm.

The Doctor had offered Mr Wells the chance to go home for the night, Amy wasn't too impressed that the Doctor hadn't asked her if she would like to do a similar thing, but Mr Wells decided that he needed to find out what was so mysterious about this warehouse and chose to remain with them despite his nerves. Amy assumed that Mr Wells and the Doctor were asleep, the whole world had fallen silent and motionless, as if it was waiting for something to happen. She shivered in the darkness.

Suddenly, Amy heard a sound echoing through the room, it sounded like someone was moving, but through the darkness she could just about make out the Doctor and Mr Wells still lying either side of her. Something creaked.

"Doctor!" Amy hissed in a panic, "I can hear something!"

The Doctor sprang into a sitting upright position as if he hadn't been asleep at all and looked slowly around the room, scanning it with his eyes, but it was so dark even he couldn't see anything.

"Be quiet, don't move." He whispered.

Mr Wells was also awake and sitting up, still as a statue. Despite the dark, Amy could see sweat glistening on his forehead, like him, she desperately wanted to know what was making the peculiar noise, but dared not speak.

There was a flicker of green light as the Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed in the direction of the noise. Its glow lit up the room to reveal what was making its slow way towards the door.

The Doctor was right; it wasn't children making the mannequins move. They were moving by themselves.

"What the—" Amy blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Sssh!" The Doctor hissed, "they don't know that we're here, they can't see us but they might hear us. Keep still and keep quiet."

Amy and Mr Wells obeyed and watched, astounded, as two more mannequins awoke from their sleep. With slow, jolted movements like a robot they pulled the plastic off themselves and began to make their way towards their fellow mannequins, which were already slowly pushing open the warehouse door with surprising ease. As soon as the door was fully open, the group of living mannequins, about five in all, stepped out into the darkness of the street and disappeared.

After a moment of shocked silence the Doctor slowly got to his feet and turned the light on, it flickered into life and filled the whole room with a sudden, bright light as if bringing them all back to reality.

"But, but that's impossible," Mr Wells stuttered after, staring at the door that was still standing wide open.

"I'm guessing mannequins in 2040 aren't meant to move around on their own accord." Amy meant this to sound lighthearted, but there was an unnatural tremor in her voice as she spoke, this place felt all the more eerie now she knew plastic dummies were coming to life. She glanced around at the ones nearest to her, wondering when they might awake.

"Definitely not," the Doctor agreed, sticking his head out the door and gazing into the black night, but he could see nothing.

"You don't sound that surprised Doctor," Amy said, eyeing him suspiciously. "It's like you've seen this sort of thing before."

"Well actually I have," the Doctor admitted. "When you've been travelling around for several hundred years, no matter how big the Universe is, there's always something that you keep on running into, this seems to be one of them."

"Doctor, would you kindly explain what you're talking about and why plastic can come to life!?" Snapped Mr Wells suddenly, his confusion and shock beginning to turn into frustration. He was starting to change his mind about trusting these people and agreeing to stay the night.

"Right yes, sorry," said the Doctor quickly, moving away from the door and sitting down opposite Mr Wells. It reminded Amy of the time when she first met the Doctor and he was at her kitchen table, eating fish fingers and custard. He was giving Mr Wells the same look he had given her when they were talking about the crack in her wall. "These shop mannequins aren't your usual plastic dummies."

"I gathered that much," Mr Wells replied.

"They are in fact artificial life forms called Autons. Amy's right, I have met these creatures before on Earth, but perhaps not so many in such a small space. These are probably the things that have been stalking your streets. There are two types of Auton, these are the most basic, they may look harmless but they have energy blasters concealed in their wrists and when they shoot, they shoot to kill. Your fellow workers probably disturbed them and in trying to take them apart, the Autons then turned around and attacked them."

"What can we do to stop them?" Said Mr Wells, his eyes widening with fear.

"Well it's not the Autons that you should be worried about. They don't have a mind of their own; they're controlled by something called the Nestene Consciousness, a creature that thrives on polluted planets just like Earth. It sends signals to Autons, telling them when to attack. Destroy the Nestene Consciousness, the Autons cease to work."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Mr Wells shouted suddenly, jumping up. "These Autons killed my friends, and they'll kill more if we don't stop them, I refuse to live in fear of plastic! Let's find this Nestene Conscious and kill it!"

"I understand perfectly how you must be feeling Mr Wells, the trouble is, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Why?"

"First of all, I wouldn't want to kill the Nestene Consciousness, I would much rather talk with it first, persuade it to leave the plant. However much you disagree with that, that is my policy." The Doctor said quickly as Mr Wells opened his mouth to argue. "Secondly, usually Autons are used when the Nestene wants to take over the world, so why it has allowed them to be taken here I don't know. However, the most important issue is that we will _never_ be able to find or stop the Nestene Consciousness."

"Why not?" Mr Wells and Amy demanded simultaneously.

"Because thirty-three years ago, I destroyed it."

* * *

_This was originally 2 short chapters, but I thought it might be better as one, long chapter. Hope it worked! :)_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The chilling night breeze bit into Amy's bones as she stepped out onto the dark London street after the Doctor, but it was not the cold that made her shiver; it was the thought that there were creatures out there, waiting for another victim. She knew now these were not just rumours, there mannequins were out there ready to kill, and wandering around the City in the dead of night could well make them the next victim. Never mind the fact that these monsters were plastic and probably didn't even have a brain, they could and would kill. So why was Amy following the Doctor into danger? She had done it many times before, but suddenly the thrill was no longer there, she no longer felt safe in his presence.

Something had taken the fun of being with the Doctor away, but what? Amy would once have said she would follow the Doctor to the ends of the Earth and beyond, so why had this doubt crept so suddenly into her mind? It was as if she had lost her trust in him, but racking her brains she couldn't think of anything that he had done which could possibly make him untrustworthy, not even when he had left her waiting out in the cold and the dark when she was just a child, she still believed in him.

Perhaps it was because the Doctor had never told her about the plastic dummies, these so-called Autons, which were coming to life and wondering the streets around them, yet the master that was meant to control them was dead, killed by the Doctor himself. He had just sworn that he would try and make peace first with the Nestene Consciousness if he could find it, but now of course now he couldn't.

Was this what was making her feel so uneasy? The thought that the Doctor had once abandoned peace and gone in the for the kill? The realisation for th first time that the Doctor was a murderer?

But Amy had experienced many harsh realities when travelling with the Doctor and she still stood by his side. However this was something _more;_ something that was worrying Amy so much it scared her. She had never felt so much fear for the unknown since she had discovered the extra door hiding in the corner of her eye in her old house. That room once hid something dark and secretive, and Amy had not trusted the Doctor enough then to feel safe, she was having the same experience now. Amy thought she had got over that moment when her trust for the Doctor had faltered, but perhaps not. She also felt, like she had behind that one extra door, that something was hovering just behind her shoulder, watching her.

Amy shook her head and tried to put these nagging thoughts to the back of her mind. That all felt like a long time ago, she was safe when she was by the Doctor's side, she knew she was, there was probably nothing to worry about. It was then Amy realised she was falling behind, the Doctor and Mr Wells were striding ahead while she was lagging behind, she ran to catch up with them before they disappeared into the darkness, and tried to concentrate on the problem they had at hand.

"Doctor you haven't actually said, what is the plan?" She asked.

"It's obvious isn't it?" The Doctor replied, not bothering to turn and look at Amy.

"No, that's why I asked." Amy pointed out, her doubtful mind was causing her to already lose patience with the Doctor.

"We have just let a group of Autons, which appear to have no one to control them, walk onto the streets of London. We have to find them before they do any more damage to this City, and hopefully find out why they're wandering round the City in the first place."

"I agree with the Doctor," said a sudden voice behind Amy, making her jump. She was relieved when she turned around and found that it was only Mr Wells. "These Autons have been attacking and killing my friends, we need to find them and destroy them!"

"There's no need to destroy them, not yet," the Doctor said calmly, and Amy's trust in the Doctor felt a little renewed. Even though these things were nothing but plastic the Doctor's first answer still wasn't violence. "We just need to keep people safe, keep the Autons inside the warehouse or somewhere where they won't do anymore damage. We can't destroy them all, you said yourself there are nearly a thousand. We need to attack the very source of what is bringing the Autons to life, and to do that we need more information about them."

"How do you propose we find the thing that's controlling the Autons?" Amy asked as they continued to stroll through the dark, silent City. "We can't just go up and ask them."

"We could do, if they can walk, maybe they can talk as well." Mr Wells suggested.

"Probably not, the last time I met the Autons, they didn't talk." The Doctor replied, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand.

"They might do, if they have a different controller, perhaps they are a completely different make that will be able to communicate with us." Mr Wells added.

"Perhaps you have a point." The Doctor said slowly, thinking through what had just been said. "If we find a functioning Auton, perhaps I might be able to communicate with it and find out what's controlling it. Or the Autons could be heading to what's controlling them at this very moment! A master needs protection, just in case people like us come along and try to stop it." The Doctor's face lit up and he spoke faster as his excitement grew; finally the road seemed to be becoming clearer. "Right then gang, here's what we must do," he said enthusiastically, stopping suddenly and turning round to face Mr Wells and Amy.

"We're not a gang," Amy put in.

"OK then…crew!" Amy rolled her eyes, but there was a smile of amusement on her face as the Doctor continued. "The Autons will probably go back to the storage building and become nothing but motionless mannequins again by morning if they don't want their cover to be blown in broad daylight, by that time they won't be much use to us. In fact if they already know they're being followed they might not emerge from the warehouse again for days, weeks even, in which case we only have tonight to find a functioning one, so I suggest we split up. That gives us a better chance we have to catching one before morning. Mr Wells, you know this place best, would you be happy heading out alone?"

"Whatever it takes." Mr Wells nodded, he was used to spending much of his time on his own and knew the streets well enough to walk through them in darkness. Now he finally knew what was stalking the streets at night, he felt less afraid and more determined to help.

"Great, start somewhere where most people are afraid to go or where most of the mysterious sightings have taken place and continue your search from there. Keep your eyes peeled and take care of yourself." The Doctor gave Mr Wells a reassuring pat on the back as he said this.

Mr Wells smiled bravely, "I'll be fine."

"Amy and I will wander around aimlessly and see if we can encounter something mysterious to follow." The Doctor continued cheerily, "I'll use the sonic screwdriver to see if I can pick up anything."

"Do I have a choice in this?" Amy asked.

"Sorry, not enough time to make choices. We'll meet back at the warehouse at…" The Doctor glanced at his watch, "…sunrise. Last one without an Auton's a rotten egg!" He added happily and without another word, he turned and rushed off through the darkness of the streets.

"He runs off a lot doesn't he?" Mr Wells said to Amy as they watched the Doctor's disappearing back. "You almost think he enjoys causing trouble."

"If he didn't I probably wouldn't be here," Amy admitted, and with that she rushed after the Doctor before she lost him completely.

The way the Doctor strolled through the streets of London, it almost seemed like he knew perfectly well what he was doing and where he was going, though when Amy asked him he replied happily that he had, in fact, no idea. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and allowed it to light up a path a head of them, drenching the walls of the old buildings and cracked pavement in a sickly green glow, which gave it an even more eerie atmosphere.

The Doctor explained that the sonic screwdriver would help detect anything robotic or unusual, but to Amy the whole of London seemed unusual, as they headed down more gloomy streets that all looked exactly the same to her. How were they even supposed to find their way back to the warehouse if they caught an Auton? Amy wasn't so sure how long they had been wandering around for, but so far they had seen and detected nothing. There was nothing out there, living or plastic, Amy hoped that Mr Wells wasn't having such bad luck, and the safety of daylight would come soon.

Amy's dull mood was suddenly turned on its head when she heard the unmistakable sound of crunching footsteps. The wish for her to see another living soul had come true, but it filled her with fear. She froze and gazed off into the dark, her senses prickling, but she couldn't see anything. For a moment Amy thought that maybe she had just imagined it, but then she heard it again. The slow, unmistakable sound of footsteps, leading off somewhere down a narrow alleyway to her right.

"Doctor did you hear that?" Amy whispered, not wanting to alert whatever it was to the fact that she was nearby. She was frozen to the spot in fear ye burning with curiosity, peering into the darkness.

The Doctor didn't reply.

"Doctor!" Amy hissed, looking up to see why the Doctor wasn't listening to her.

When Amy found out why the Doctor hadn't replied, her stomach seemed to dissolve with fear and her heart skipped several beats. She opened her mouth as if to cry out, but could utter no words.

The Doctor wasn't listening to her, because the Doctor had vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Doctor?" Amy repeated, but her voice was no louder than one of a mouse, there was no way that the Doctor would be able to hear her. She was lost in a huge City, alone in the cold darkness of the night.

Suddenly, Amy found not fear bubbling up inside her, but anger. How could the Doctor just walk off and leave her like this? Not bothering to turn around just once to see if she was still following! The Doctor had the sonic screwdriver and his endless Time Lord knowledge, if he got into trouble he'd be fine, he would be able to protect himself, but Amy had nothing. She had no idea what to do if she faced an Auton and there was no weapon at hand which she could defend herself with. The Doctor would know that, shouldn't he be worrying about her? Calling out her name?

No, there was silence.

Amy wasn't sure how long she stood there in the darkness, the sound of the mysterious footsteps completely forgotten as she desperately tried to see or hear the Doctor coming back her way. But there was nothing, no one. The Doctor had been walking so quickly and concentrating so hard on the task ahead it would probably take a while before he realised that she was missing, and by then it might be too late. Amy knew how vulnerable she was out in the darkness in a strange and dangerous City, it wouldn't be long before someone or something saw her as easy prey. There was a reason why the streets were so empty.

At the thought of this, Amy decided that it probably wasn't a very good idea to stand around and wait for the Doctor to come back to her, she would have to go and find the Doctor herself, maybe Mr Wells, she at least had to find somewhere safe to stay until dawn. Her feet, which seemed to have been stuck to the ground with fear, suddenly moved again, and Amy found herself strolling off into the darkness of London. Alone.

It wasn't long before Amy realised truly how many alleyways and twisting roads there were in these parts of London, yet they all looked the same, she was totally lost. She had no idea how she was going to find the Doctor and Mr Wells, they could be anywhere. Amy thought that perhaps it would be best to find her way back to the warehouse, the Doctor and Mr Wells would make their way back there eventually. But Amy had no idea how she might find it, she hadn't even got a compass to help guide her way. The Doctor was the only protection and guidance she had, and now he was gone.

She had blindly followed the Doctor into danger and darkness so many times, and it was only now Amy thought to herself - was she foolish in doing so?

Despite this new realisation that crept into Amy's mind that she would probably never find her way back, she kept on wandering, convincing herself that she could look after herself, just because the dark streets looked a little scary didn't mean she was helpless. She had been in bad situations before and although she may not have the brain of a Time Lord she wasn't stupid. She hoped that she would find some light, maybe even a sign to tell her where she was going, but there were no street names or sign posts and no way to tell the streets apart. Too busy gazing at the dark, derelict houses around her, Amy wasn't concentrating on where she was going, and constantly found herself walking into alleyways and dead ends. The silence around and the darkness was so eerie, Amy couldn't remember when she last felt so scared. Not since there had been a crack in her wall.

Panic started creeping into Amy's mind again. She knew it shouldn't, it would only make things worse, but she could feel the cold sweat of fear trickling down her temple and her heart was racing. She tried to calm herself down, to breathe slowly, to tell herself soon dawn would come and everything would be all right, but nothing comforted her. The terrible feeling that she was being watched suddenly returned. Yet Amy was alone.

She began to walk faster, glancing at every building that passed her on either side, expecting to see a face leering at her through the window as her panic began to grow out of control. Amy was almost breaking into a run with the feeling of invisible eyes still upon her. Suddenly something in the back of her mind screamed _STOP! _And Amy ground, panting, to a halt.

Something tall was standing in front of her in the darkness; it took her a few moments to see that it was a brick wall. In her rush of panic she had ran into an alleyway and reached a dead end.

Trapped in a small passageway, Amy found herself calming down a little. She seemed to find some sense again, it was only a wall, it couldn't hurt her, she knew that panicking wasn't going to help her situation. Amy took in the dark silence of her surroundings, taking deep breaths, convincing herself that there were no eyes watching her, she was safe.

That was when she heard the crunching of footsteps again.

Amy whipped around, there was no mistaking what she had heard, there was someone out there in the darkness.

"Doctor?" She called hopefully. But there was nothing but silence. "Mr Wells? Anyone?"

Still silence.

"I know you're there!"

Nothing.

Without thinking about what she was doing, Amy slowly stepped out of the safety of the alleyway and back onto the street. The sound of footsteps had stopped again, but Amy knew that there was someone out there, it was just too dark for her see who it was. She had a horrible feeling that it wasn't the Doctor or Mr Wells.

There was a sudden clatter at Amy's foot; she looked down to see a small box lying before her on the ground. Bending to pick it up, she saw that it was a box of matches. Not thinking about how such a peculiar thing had suddenly appeared Amy, with shaking fingers, carefully pulled out a match and struck it, allowing the small flame to light up her face with a small, warm glow. Amy could definitely see a figure standing a few feet in front of her now.

"Hello?" She said nervously, stepping forward, getting closer to the silhouette in the darkness. The match was burning so low it brunt her fingers. "Ouch!" Amy hissed, dropping it and plunging herself into darkness.

Still walking, she quickly struck another one, and when she looked up, she found herself face to face with the person.

Only it wasn't a person, it was an Auton.

Amy stepped back in horror as its featureless face stared back at her. Looking down, she saw that its outstretched palm was missing a thumb, which had been replaced by what looked like a barrel of a gun. The Auton advanced slowly towards her.

"Doctor!" Amy screamed as the match burnt out and she was thrown into darkness once more. But there was still no Doctor to come to her rescue.

There was only one thing to do. Amy, her eyes wide with fear, turned and ran. The Auton quickly followed, she could hear it right behind her, picturing it chasing after her; its movements were jolted and comical, but it walked quickly. It was almost as if the thing could sense Amy's presence and where she was going to run next, as it had no eyes. As Amy raced through the streets, she felt like she had become blind too. The blackness seemed to fill her vision as shapeless buildings sped past her, she had no idea where she was going, the only thing she knew was that she had to keep going, or die.

A small but loud explosion almost made Amy fall over in surprise. Something beside her burst into an orange ball of flame. The Auton had fired a shot at her, it had missed by at least half a metre but Amy could feel the heat from the explosion, it was way too close for comfort.

"H—Help!" Amy tried to cry as she ran, but she couldn't get the word out her mouth. There was little point anyway, she seemed to be the only living thing in this ghost town, and soon she would be a ghost too.

Another blast, the roof of a building Amy was running past burst into flame just above her, Amy smelt the ends of her hair burning. She risked a glance behind, and saw the Auton still relentlessly advancing towards her, illuminated by its latest attempt to end her life.

Exhaustion was beginning to take over, Amy felt like her lungs couldn't take in any more oxygen and her heart was about to burst. But she couldn't stop, she was a fighter, she would keep on running.

Amy turned into another narrow street, nothing but darkness ahead of her; still she kept on running. The sound of the Auton's heavy footsteps seemed to have faded away, through her exhaustion Amy managed to smile; she might make it after all.

That was when Amy found herself grinding to a halt again, staring at a wall in front of her for the second time that evening. In her rush to get away, she hadn't realised that the narrow street she ran down was in fact an alleyway. She hadn't learnt from her last few mistakes to focus on where she was going, and now she was trapped. Amy turned around just to see the Auton enter the alleyway, its palm still raised, ready to kill. Amy glanced around desperately, for something, anything that she could use to protect herself. But there was nothing, only piles of boxes that Amy was now slowly backing into.

The Auton walked right up to Amy so they were almost face to face. It raised its weapon so it was pointing right in the centre of her head. With nowhere to run, Amy closed her eyes; she didn't want to see her own death.

Suddenly there was a loud clunck, Amy opened her eyes to see the Auton shudder, and then fall to the ground, a large dent in the back of its head where someone had swung something large and heavy at it. The Auton lay there twitching, its insides too damaged to use its limbs. Amy looked up to see a figure walk out from the darkest shadow of the alleyway and stand before her.

"Amelia Pond," said the Stranger, "we meet at last."

* * *

_Thanks to everyone who's read the story so far, I hope you're enjoying it! More chapters to hopefully come soon :) _

_Reviews are much appreciated!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Stranger gazed down at Amy; she wondered what was scarier, the man standing in front of her or the Auton he had just immobolised. The Stranger wore a black cloak with a hood, most of his face was covered in the dark shadow of the hood, but Amy could see his thin, pale lips forming into a smile. She didn't know how to react to this dark, mysterious man who had suddenly appeared, was it right that she should be afraid? He may have just saved her life but something felt very wrong. For a few moments she did nothing but stare at him, eventually she found her voice again:

"How do you my name?" She asked in a hoarse, quiet voice.

"Just be grateful I do, you wouldn't have survived that encounter with the Auton otherwise." Said the Stranger, looking down at the floor where the now motionless Auton lay.

"Actually I knew exactly what I was doing," Amy said defensively.

"Oh yes of course, I should have known that you were about to launch a deadly attack, you were just waiting until the last moment." The Stranger's smile widened.

Amy wasn't sure what to say to this, she didn't like being laughed at, but his face suddenly turned very serious and his smile died before she could answer back. She supposed in his world there was little time to laugh. There was a short silence before the Stranger suddenly put his hand out towards Amy. For a moment she thought he was going to attack her, but instead he simply said: "Can I have my matches back?"

"Matches?" Amy repeated, confused.

"The matches I gave to you, you didn't actually think that they appeared out of nowhere just in time? No, life's not that kind, I had to give you something before you walked into the dummy, which you did anyway." The Stranger now sounded more annoyed than amused.

Amy looked down and realised that the boxes of matches was still in her hand, in her rush and panic to get away, she had completely forgotten about them. But she didn't give them back to the Stranger, instead she kept a firm grip on them, she didn't trust this man yet.

"You've been following me? All the time I've been here, I thought I was going mad thinking someone was watching me, someone was following me, but no one else saw what I saw. Now I see it wasn't madness, it was you, why?"

"Someone had to take care of you Amy, I needed to make sure you were safe, but I didn't want to show myself. Please, I will need those matches." The Stranger sounded kinder now, more considerate, but he wasn't smiling. His hand was still outstretched; Amy hesitated for a few more moments and then gave the box of matches back.

"Well, thanks for your help, but I can look after myself." Amy said quickly, not grateful at all with any of the help the Stranger had given her so far, he may have saved her from the Auton, but still something wasn't right. "Now please let me leave, I need to find my friends."

The Stranger paused for a few moments, and then stepped aside so Amy could leave. Amy let out the deep breath that she hadn't even realised she was holding in as she walked passed the Stranger, glad to get away. But she was barely out the alleyway before he spoke again:

"I'm sorry if I scared you," said the Stranger. "But I couldn't just let you get killed, no one else was looking after you, taking care of you. Not even the Doctor, but he doesn't look after anyone but himself."

Amy froze at these words, and turned to face the Stranger who was still watching her. "You know the Doctor?" She said.

"Unfortunately."

Amy frowned, she would not let this man insult her friend. "There's nothing wrong with the Doctor, he's a good friend and he does take care of me."

"That's what you think, and yet he left you in the dark to die, not caring if he ever saw you again or not. He never even looked back." The Stranger said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"He does care, he didn't mean to leave me. He's looking for me right now." Amy said quickly, but now she really was feeling scared, it was as if the Stranger had been reading her mind. She had thought the Doctor had abandoned in the dark and hadn't looked back, of course he didn't want her to die, but if the Stranger hadn't been there to stop the Auton, would she still be alive?

"Why haven't you seen him then? You know it's true, you've doubted him yourself, you wonder if this is the life you really wanted, especially when he takes you to places like this. You question if he's really worth the whole risk, if he's worth your life. But it's too late now, he's like an addiction, as soon as you turn away from your normal life and see his world, you can never turn back."

"Why do you say all these things?" Amy found herself wandering back into the alleyway, the Strangers words were drawing her closer to him, she could feel herself tingling with curiosity, but she was still fearful.

"Because he's done it before, I've seen him." The Stranger said, "You think you're the only one privileged enough to travel with the Doctor, but the truth is you're just part of a long line, a chain of people who believed his fairy tales, who thought he was safe and never questioned who the Doctor really was. They just left loved ones behind and ran off with the Doctor, never really realising what they were letting themselves in for."

"I don't believe you." But Amy's voice shook as she turned away again, she didn't want to hear any more, she wanted to escape, she wanted to find the Doctor and remember he wasn't the man the Stranger said he was.

"Trust me Amy!" The Stranger hissed, jumping forward and grabbing Amy's arm before she could get away. "I know you're starting to doubt the Doctor, I know you may be the only one able to see through his mask of deception. I mention his name and you turn back to me, you want the truth, you _need_ the truth, you can't leave now."

"How can I trust you? I don't even know your name!" Amy snapped, trying to shrug off his tight grip on her arm, but to no avail.

"Of course, I understand that." The Stranger said calmly, suddenly letting go of Amy's arm, "but how can you say that when you don't even know the Doctor's name?"

"I know his name." Amy said quickly, but once again the Stranger was telling the truth and she felt desperate to learn more. She didn't leave the alleyway.

"What is it then?" The Stranger gave a sly smile from underneath his hood. He knew that Amy was lying.

"He's called…he's called the Doctor."

"Oh please," the Stranger laughed harshly. "What kind of mother would name her child 'Doctor'? It's a lie Amy, and you know it."

"What does that matter? I know who he is even if I don't know his name, the Doctor can be trusted." She argued.

"He's a strange man who appeared in your garden when you were a little girl, ate all your food or spat it across the kitchen floor and then promised to be back in five minutes. Only that was a lie as well wasn't it? How long was he really gone, I can't quite remember, wasn't it twelve years or something like that?" The Stranger's voice was perfectly calm and spoke as if he was reciting a story, it made the colour drain from Amy's face.

"How do you know all these things?" Amy asked, her voice trembling. Something in the back of her mind was screaming at her to run but her feet were stuck to the floor again. The Stranger was right, she couldn't leave now.

"I know many things Amy, and quite a lot about you." The Stranger smiled again.

"Have you been following me for my whole life?"

"No." But Amy could see the Stranger was still smiling, as if he was mocking her ignorance and stupidity.

"Listen Stranger I want the truth." Amy said with sudden determination and harshness. "You say I can't trust the Doctor and perhaps you're right. But for these few moments I'm giving you the same trust I give him, and you should tell me the truth even if the Doctor hasn't. How do you know everything about me?"

"I _am_ telling the truth. The first time I saw you was when you came out of the TARDIS when you arrived here, I hadn't known you before then, but I immediately knew who the Doctor was and knew that you were in grave danger." The Stranger explained, his smile gone and his voice stern. "I tried to do some research on you, try to find out who you were, where you really came from. As soon as I saw you I knew that you were someone special, someone different from all the Doctor's other 'companions', and perhaps I might be able to save you from the curse that is the Doctor."

"I still don't believe you," said Amy defiantly. "Research? What research? You know my name, you see me come out of the TARDIS and assume I travel with the Doctor. Is that all? You don't know me at all!" _You're probably mad as well. _Amy thought to herself, but decided it was better not to say this out loud.

"Amelia Jessica Pond, born in Scotland 1989, orphaned and went to live with her Aunt Sharon in Leadworth." The Stranger spoke clearly and calmly, as if he was reading a well-rehearsed speech. "Amelia first met the Doctor when she was seven and he crashed in a blue box in her back garden. She fed him an assortment of food to satisfy his peculiar cravings and the Doctor tried to fix the scary crack in her wall, but failed. Suddenly the Doctor ran back to the blue box in the garden, he promised to come back to her in five minutes, she waited and waited in the cold and the darkness but he never returned. Over the years the Doctor was missing young Amelia became obsessed with her imaginary friend—"

"Stop it!" Amy snapped suddenly, the Stranger was scaring her more than ever. "You can't get that from pure research, you're still lying to me. How did you find out all these things if you say you haven't been following me?"

The Stranger smiled, "I'm not the only one who can travel in time."

* * *

_Not the best chapter of the story so far, even after editing it, but I hope you liked it all the same. Please review :)_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I can travel in time," he said, "and I can prove it to you."

The Stranger quickly struck a match from the matchbox he was still holding and handed quickly to Amy, as if he was afraid of the small glow of light the match produced. He then pulled something out from under his cloak and held it beside the small flame so Amy could see.

The thing that the Stranger was holding didn't look like a time travelling device,_ but neither does a blue box_, Amy reminded herself as she examined the thing closely. It looked like a large old-fashioned watch with a thick strap almost the width of Amy's fist, where the watch face would have been there were an array of small buttons, reminding Amy a little of all the different controls in the TARDIS, but apart from that this was like nothing she had ever seen.

"This," said the Stranger before Amy could ask, "is a vortex manipulator. Used to travel in time, perhaps not in the same luxury that you're used to, but time travelling all the same. It's how I travelled through time to find out about you, find out how you met the Doctor and how he changed your world. If you let me, I can prove to you with this that the Doctor is not to be trusted through time travel too."

Amy paused for a moment, what should she say? She shouldn't trust this man, but the doubt about the Doctor was still hovering over her head. She deserved to find out why she had this uncertainty.

"Show me then." She said bluntly, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice and face.

The Stranger smiled at this, as if this was his plan all along. He jabbed a few buttons on the vortex manipulator before handing it over to Amy. "Hold onto it and don't let go. I'll warn you, this might be a bit uncomfortable."

Amy hesitated again, knowing that this was probably a bad idea, this could well be a trap, she might never come back and the Doctor would forever wonder what happened to his Amelia Pond. But it was too late to change her mind now, she wanted to find out the truth. Amy placed her hand on the watch, and the Stranger smiled again.

His smile was the last thing Amy saw before the world around her disappeared and she found herself spinning through the time vortex. She felt her body being tugged and pulled in every direction, she felt like her insides were being compressed. Everything around her was a blur apart from her hand that was still tightly holding onto the watch. Amy had a horrible sensation that her brain was about to implode, there was so much pressure in her head. She closed her eyes to and tried to ignore the pains and flashing lights that passed her. She felt like screaming but she didn't have any breath to make a sound with.

Suddenly, the terrible sensation was over and Amy found herself standing on hard ground once more. She stumbled a little, clutching her head, which still pounded. The Stranger was standing, still and calm beside her as if he hadn't just hurtled through time, his hand also on the watch; he was staring at something in the distance.

"Where are we?" Amy whispered, not knowing why she felt the need to lower her voice. She guessed she was in the 21st century, but she was definitely no longer in 2030 London, although it was hard to see much through the pouring rain. The street Amy now stood on was also quiet, but the houses no longer looked derelict, they were welcoming homes full of light and there were sounds coming from them of people talking, laughing, even the bark of a dog. They were standing in the middle of the deserted road.

"London, 2008." The Stranger replied to Amy, his smile had disappeared, Amy watched water droplets trickling off his hood, illuminated by the light from nearby lamp posts. She too was already soaking wet, for the second time in two days, but she hardly noticed. "And the Doctor's just destroyed another life."

Amy saw that the Stranger was staring into a window of a house they were standing directly in front of. Three people were sitting inside talking; two men, one looking a lot older than the other, and a worried looking woman, none of whom Amy had ever seen before. The Stranger put a finger on his lips and the two of them silently crossed into the front garden, closer to the window so they could hear what the three people were discussing.

"She took my mind into her own head, but that's a Time Lord consciousness." The younger man was explaining, his voice could just be heard over the pattering of the rain, a solemn look on his face.

_A Time Lord? But that's impossible! _Amy thought to herself, but she said nothing and continued to listen to what the mysterious man was saying. Who was he? She had never seen him before, and yet deep down she knew who he was.

"That knowledge, it was killing her." The younger man added.

"But she'll get better now?" The older man said hopefully, as if it was the only hope he had left in the world.

"I had to wipe her mind completely." The younger man continued, "everything trace of me, of the TARDIS—"

"TARDIS!?" Amy burst out before she could stop herself. None of this was making sense. Was what she was seeing even real?

"Ssh!" Hissed the Stranger. "Listen."

"Anything we did together, anywhere we went, had to go." The younger man finished. Amy was too far away to see the deep sadness in his chestnut brown eyes.

"All those wonderful things she did?" The older man said, Amy noticed that the hope was gone from his voice, and had been replaced with a heartbreaking sadness.

"I know, but that version of Donna is dead." The younger man leaned forward and spoke in a quieter yet more urgent voice: "because if she remembers just for a second, she'll burn up. You can never tell her. You can't mention me or any of it, for the rest of her life."

"But the whole world's talking about it, we travelled across space." The woman pointed out, speaking for the first time.

"It'll just be a story." The younger man replied. "One of those Donna Noble stories, where she missed it all again."

"But she was better with you." Said the older man.

"Don't say that." The woman snapped.

"No, she was!" The old man argued.

"Who are these people?" Amy whispered to the Stranger while the people in the house continued talking. She could understand nothing, only that something bad had happened, something terrible, because of the younger man.

"This is the mother and grandfather of Donna Noble, a simple, ordinary woman who was taken away by the Doctor and almost died because of it." The Stranger explained, slight anger in his voice. "At least this time the Doctor had the dignity to go and tell her loved ones that he had taken something so precious away, taken away Donna's memory. When he usually destroys someone's life, he just dumps them onto the nearest planet and leaves without looking back."

"But—but that's not the Doctor." Amy stammered, looking at the young man. "How can it be? He looks nothing like that."

"He never told you anything did he?" Said the Stranger solemnly, "not even the fact that the Doctor changes so much all the time, even his appearances change. To save the Doctor and the Earth, Donna Noble sacrificed her own life, her own living memory. And she didn't even get a thank you from the Doctor, she couldn't or else she'd die."

"I still don't understand." Amy murmured, but the Stranger had fallen silent again, watching what was happening inside the house.

Another woman had just entered the living room, talking happily and loudly about something, Amy assumed that this must be Donna Noble. She didn't even look twice at the Doctor, she left as quickly as she had returned.

"As I said." Said, who Amy assumed now, was Donna Noble's mother, with nothing but contempt in her voice towards the younger man. "You should go."

"It's time we should go too." The Stranger murmured, "before we are seen."

Amy placed her hand slowly on the watch again, her gaze still fixed on the rain-spattered window, thinking about what she had just heard, but before she knew it the house she was looking into and the world around her had disappeared and they were thrown back into the time vortex. Within seconds Amy found herself standing in the darkness of futuristic London again, her head pounding once more, with the Stranger still beside her.

"Do you see now?" Said the Stranger; taking the watch from Amy and putting it back under his cloak. "Do you see why I warned you about the Doctor? He's told you nothing; he's left you in the dark and in terrible danger. He ruins lives, and that was just one example, there are many more and plenty of people who weren't as lucky as Donna, as they didn't return home alive. Once someone got trapped in a parallel Universe because of the Doctor, her only crime was travelling with him and loving him."

Amy said nothing, her mind was racing. The Stranger was right, the Doctor wasn't safe, there was no denying what she had just seen, there was no way it could have been a silly little trick the Stranger had somehow created. That young man may have looked totally different from her Doctor, yet somehow she knew, it was _the_ Doctor. Her head still ached, but not because she had travelled in time, it was because she couldn't believe what she had got herself into. But what could she do? She had trusted the Doctor for so long, always believing in him in even the darkest moments, and now she was stuck in the future with him, she had almost died because he had left her alone and now she knew he could not be trusted. She felt more lost and alone than ever.

The Stranger saw the confusion and worry on Amy's face, and gave a dark smile.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Stranger let the silence set in all around, knowing that Amy needed time to think, time to realise what trouble she had herself into. He felt something prickling his skin, and looked up to see that the sun was beginning to rise over the dark cover of night. It was nothing but a blood red slither, but soon it would grow. He quickly turned back to Amy.

"You must go now, the sun is beginning to rise. Soon dawn will come, and your disappearance will be noticed."

Amy nodded slowly; she had to get back to the Doctor. There was still a little bit of disbelief in her soul, could the Doctor really be as bad as the Stranger was making him out to be? Some things still hadn't clicked into place, and she still wasn't even sure if the Stranger could be trusted. The Doctor had done some bad things in the past, but surely the past was the past, what difference would it make to her now? A snide voice in the back of her head reminded her that in the world she lived in now, the past didn't always stay in the past. Yet whatever time the Doctor had taken her, past, present or future, she had trusted him until now. The Stranger had shown her a glimpse of the Doctor's own mysterious past, but that didn't mean he could be trusted too.

However once more it seemed the Stranger was reading Amy's mind:

"I know you still doubt me." He said in a low voice, looking down at Amy, who tried to avoid eye contact. "But remember, you doubt the Doctor too."

"You gave me proof that the Doctor is not to be trusted," Amy said slowly, "but you have not given me proof if he is really a danger to me as you say he is."

"He's already started to do some damage Amy," there was slightly more urgency in the Stranger's voice now as the sun slowly continued to rise above them, Amy wondered why the Stranger was so desperate to tell her these things. "And I can prove that to you as well, but you have to give me more time. Don't tell the Doctor about what you have seen, about me, about what I have told you, it will only make things worse. I will keep an eye on you to make sure you are safe with him, but you must keep your eyes peeled too. It is not just Autons that are dangerous here. Trust no one, not even Mr Wells."

Amy nodded again; it seemed that she would probably never get away from this Stranger and the things he had in store for her. But perhaps that was a good thing, if she could no longer trust the Doctor, at least there would be someone waiting in the shadows that she may be able to rely on.

The Stranger led Amy out of the alleyway, but did not step fully into the street where the sun was beginning to light the uneven cobbles with a handsome golden glow. It was a little more comforting to see that the world was no longer shrouded in darkness, but Amy felt uncertainty inside and did not find the golden glow of the sun a good omen.

"I'll see you again." The Stranger said, sinking back into the darkness of the alleyway. "I'll be waiting for your return." He said, and Amy thought she just caught a smile on his face.

"But I don't even know your name." Amy said; her voice still sounded small and frail. There was so little about this man she knew who was following her, but she supposed she should be more grateful, this man had saved her life.

"What did you call me earlier? Stranger wasn't it?" He paused for a moment. "I liked that name, just call me Stranger."

"But that's not a proper name." Amy replied. Part of her wanted to stay and ask this man more questions; but another part of her wanted her to run, where to though? She didn't know, just as long as if was far from here.

"Neither is the Doctor." The Stranger pointed out. And he disappeared back into the darkness of the alleyway.

Amy stood there for a few moments, not knowing which way she should turn, but she knew she certainly didn't want to go back into the alleyway. Despite the sun steadily warming her, Amy shivered. She made a mental note to herself that if she was still alive by 2040 (which felt unlikely now, as she seemed to have put herself in great danger with the Doctor) not to live in London.

Not wanting to stand around for any longer, Amy turned and walked through the street; not quite sure where she was going, but she didn't care as long as it was far away from where she had had the encounter with the Auton. However it wasn't long before Amy found herself completely lost once more and not knowing which way to turn again. She cursed, she hated these winding London streets, but she was grateful that it was now daylight and she hadn't walked into any more alleyways.

The sun had almost finished rising above London as Amy came to a halt and stood in the middle of a narrow street, wondering which way to turn next and what excuse she'll tell the Doctor about why she had gone missing and where she had been. Perhaps she should just tell him the truth about the Stranger, but the Stranger didn't want the Doctor to find out, maybe it should stay that way for now.

"Amy?" Said a sudden voice behind her, and something cold touched her shoulder.

Amy jumped out her skin and with a yelp she whipped around. For a moment she thought it was another Auton, or the Stranger had come back.

But it wasn't either of those things; it was only a concerned looking Mr Wells. He was holding a long metal pipe in his hands that made Amy think for a moment that he was about to attack her. Her heart still racing, the fear must have been apparent on her face, as Mr Wells seemed to become more concerned.

"Are you all right?" He asked, quickly putting the pipe down.

"I'm fine," Amy lied, panting as if she had run a mile. "You made me jump, what's that for?" She nodded at the pipe.

"Protection," Mr Wells said quickly, "you never know what might be hiding in the shadows in this place."

"Believe me I know," Amy muttered to herself.

"What did you say?" Mr Wells asked curiously.

"Nothing," Amy quickly changed the subject, she didn't want to raise any suspicion. "Have you seen the Doctor?"

"No, he was with you wasn't he?" Mr Wells asked, he still looked worried. "Are you sure you're all right Amy? You look very pale."

"I said I'm fine," Amy snapped without meaning too, taking Mr Wells by surprise. "Sorry," she added quickly. "I think I just got a little spooked in the dark that's all. I think we should be more worried about the Doctor, have you not seen him?"

Mr Wells shook his head sadly. "No, he could be anywhere. Why aren't you with him? I'm sure I saw you going off together..."

"We got split up." Amy explained, at least this wasn't a lie.

"We'd better go and look for him then." Said Mr Wells, still looking concerned, but for the Doctor this time, not for Amy.

Amy thought about telling Mr Wells there was really no need to be worried about the Doctor, he could look after himself quite well and he didn't care if anyone got into trouble. But she said nothing, she knew Mr Wells wouldn't believe her as this was a dangerous world, and he would be taken aback by her sudden cruel feelings towards the Doctor, it surprised Amy herself.

"Perhaps he's gone back to the warehouse?" Amy suggested instead.

Mr Wells nodded in agreement, but he said nothing. He was looking at Amy very closely, as if something had changed about her appearance. Amy tried to give a reassuring smile, but for some reason she couldn't, her mouth simply twitched. Perhaps it was because she was in shock after the attack from the Auton and what she had seen and heard from the Stranger. Thankfully though Mr Wells looked away after a few moments and the two of them began to head back to the warehouse.

As Amy followed Mr Wells through the streets of London he tried to make friendly conversation with her. He asked her about where she came from, what she did, about the Doctor, if she had any family and he talked a little about his own family. However Amy was hardly listening, she just nodded at him every now and then. Her mind was else where, down dark passageways to be precise, now she knew what was probably waiting down them, watching her.

Amy's eyes constantly glanced back and forth at each alleyway that passed her, thinking about where the Stranger might be now and what he had told her. Could it really be true? Was the Doctor really this terrible betrayer of his friends and compulsive liar as the Stranger had pictured in Amy's mind? She didn't know, and she decided she didn't want to know. But what she did know was that the feeling that she was being watched was hovering over her mpre thn ever, even as Mr Wells spoke, at least now she knew that it wasn't in her head.

Just as they past a narrow street, Amy was sure she saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye and stopped without meaning to, trying to recognise the shape.

"What is it Amy?" Mr Wells asked quickly, stopping beside her. "Did you see the Doctor?"

"No," Amy shook her head; "it was just a shadow."

Mr Wells looked at Amy closely, and then back at the alleyway, but she was already hastily walking off, she didn't want to look into his eyes and see his worry and suspicion. Mr Wells hesitated for a moment before following her.

Down the narrow street, the 'shadow' watched Amy and Mr Wells stare into the darkness and then walk away. He felt slightly more careless about hiding away now that he had finally met and spoken to Amy Pond and their brief sighting of him did not worry him. After all, the Doctor was nowhere to be around and Mr Wells was nothing to fear. However soon the Stranger wouldn't even need to hide away from the Doctor, everything was going to plan so far. He walked out the alleyway to watch Amy and Mr Wells disappearing into the distance before disappearing himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

In the end, it was the Doctor who found Mr Wells and Amy. It seemed that he had been wandering around all night with his screwdriver held up in front of his face, searching for an Auton, the only time he looked up from what he was doing was when morning came and he saw Amy and Mr Wells walking down a street nearby. Despite the long, sleepless night, he still ran to catch up with them with a broad smile on his face and greeted them happily.

"Amy! I wondered where you had got to." The Doctor told her cheerily.

"Nice to know you were so worried about me," Amy muttered darkly, the things the Stranger had told and shown her about the Doctor hurt like physical as she looked up at his boyish grin. "Did you even come and look for me?"

"Come now Amy there was little time to play hide and seek last night, there were more important things to look for." The Doctor told her casually.

"Well I didn't find getting lost in the dark fun!" Amy snapped, the Doctor and Mr Wells looked slightly surprised at her sudden loss of temper. "I almost got killed by an Auton thanks to you."

"Really?" the Doctor's smile flickered from his face for a moment and he looked worried, "Are you hurt?"

"No I'm fine..." Amy began, but it seemed the Doctor had already stopped listening, he was scanning Amy with his sonic screwdriver and after deciding there was nothing to worry about, he looked around as if expecting the Auton might be standing over Amy's shoulder. "You didn't really think I would have turned around and tried to catch it?" She snapped again when she realised what he was doing. "It was trying to kill me!"

"Well, how else do you think we would have caught one?" The Doctor pointed out, his broad smile had disappeared and he was beginning to frown. Amy guessed he was probably wondering why she was so angry with him and not her usual adventurous self.

"May I interject here?" Mr Wells said hastily before Amy could open her mouth to make a harsh reply. He could tell this was soon going to turn into an argument, which was the last thing they needed. "Did anyone actually find _and _catch an Auton last night?"

Amy shook her head and the Doctor said, "Err, no, didn't even see one."

"So our whole night was wasted." Mr Wells concluded with a sad sigh.

"Not completely," the Doctor said quickly, not wanting to crush the spirit of his team, there was still hope. "We now know where the Autons do _not_ go during the night."

"Which seems to be everywhere Doctor," Mr Wells pointed out. "We still don't know where the _did _go."

"Amy does," the Doctor said suddenly, turning towards Amy. "You saw an Auton last night, do you know where you saw it?" He asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Amy said hastily, she had made up her mind, she didn't want to reveal to the Doctor anything that had happened that night. "All the streets round here look the same to me."

"Perhaps the Autons are still out here." Mr Wells suggested, gazing up and down the street. "If your prediction is correct Doctor, they go back to the storage facility when the sun comes up, which means they might be making there way over there right now."

"In which case we should make our way back there too," said the Doctor, he gazed up the sky, the sun was still climbing steadily into the sky, but they still had time to catch an Auton.

Amy said nothing as the Doctor and Mr Wells set off again, she knew that when they returned to the warehouse, there would be one Auton missing. Luckily for her though, there were so many Autons there it as unlikely anyone would notice.

However, there was something much more dangerous then Autons for the three of them to worry about.

The Doctor and Mr Wells were rushing ahead, they wanted to get to the storage facility as quickly as possible before it was too late, but Amy lagged behind, she was no longer in the mood for any adventure, Mr Wells and the Doctor were talking, almost happily, about what happened that night (which turned out to be not very much) while Amy wanted nothing more than to sit somewhere quietly and think through her very eventful night. She now had the nasty feeling that was trapped in a world she was desperate to escape, nothing and no one was safe any more, but there was no way out.

It wasn't long however before the Doctor sensed that there was definitely something different about Amy and he hung back so he could talk to her.

"Are you all right, Pond?" He asked her.

Amy said nothing for a moment, her head was down, it was a few seconds before she even realised that the Doctor was even talking to her, she looked up at him.

"Yes I'm fine," she said quickly. "Why does everyone keep on asking me that?"

"Because you certainly don't look fine." The Doctor pointed out. It was true, Amy was still looking pale and there were dark rings under her eyes now the long night was beginning to catch up with her.

"Well thanks," she retorted. "I'm just tired that's all."

The Doctor continued to watch her carefully. "What really happened last night?"

Amy had a sudden urge to tell the Doctor everything that had really happened last night, but she stifled it, she needed to work out who to trust first before she could tell them the truth, and what if the Stranger was watching? "Thanks to you, I got lost in the streets of futuristic London and almost eaten by an Auton."

"I thought you said you could look after yourself." The Doctor pointed out, "next time you should keep up."

"Did you see anything last night then?" Amy asked, deciding not to start arguing with the Doctor again and telling him that next time he should keep an eye on his friends. She looked down at the ground again as they walked; she couldn't keep eye contact with the Doctor any more.

"Nope, the streets were as normal as they could be. Despite the fact that they are utterly deserted." Said the Doctor, his laid-back tone died away to be replaced with an ominous one. "If you think about it, even at night your present London would be filled with light and life. But here, it has been plunged into darkness, there is nothing, even in the daytime, there is no one."

"I noticed." Amy mumbled, knowing full well that there was life out there.

"Which means that the Autons are still having an affect, if no one dares leave their homes, Mr Wells said himself that most people had left because they feared the creatures so. Yet throughout a whole night we only find one Auton out of a thousand, why is that?" The Doctor wondered out loud. "Unless there's something else that's made the people run away..."

"But there's nothing here to run away from." Amy pointed out, "although I have to admit, I would quite like to leave this place. Doctor?" Amy turned to see that the Doctor had stopped, his eyes had suddenly gone cold and serious, gazing up at the sky. "Doctor are you even listening to me?" She asked.

"That light," the Doctor said slowly. "Why is it there?"

Amy hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about until she looked up and saw a light shining through the top window of a three-storey house, the same house and the same light that they had seen when they first came here.

"Why is the light still on?" The Doctor asked, more to himself than to Amy. "It must have been on for the past day and it's light now, there is no need for the light to be on. We knocked on the door, but no one answered. Perhaps the occupants left with everyone else or were merely too scared to open the door, but if so, why would they leave the light on?"

"Doctor I'm sure it's nothing." Amy tried to persuade him, she tried to sound uninterested, as if there was nothing interesting about the light, but she felt a nasty feeling growing inside her, crawling through her veins and into her stomach, her instincts telling her there was something very wrong about the light.

"Mr Wells!" Doctor called to the disappearing figure ahead of them and ignoring Amy.

"What is it Doctor?" Mr Wells asked, turning quickly and jogging back to them. He looked up to see what the Doctor was staring at, a flicker of confusion but also worry appeared on his face, he too felt uneasy, but didn't know why. "Why-" he began, but the Doctor interrupted him.

"Because I don't think anyone lives there," he muttered, "and if they did, they wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves by leaving the light on, especially if the City is as dangerous as you say it is. Me and Amy have been here before, I know this light has been on for at least a day, but why?"

The Doctor took a tentative step towards the house and pressed his hand gently against the door. Amy assumed the door would be locked, but to her surprise it swung slowly open with a loud creek, horribly reminding her of scenes from horror films. The Doctor looked behind him at Mr Wells and Amy, as if he wanted to hear their advice, but neither said anything, they just stared at the door with frightened looks on their faces. The Doctor shrugged, there was only one thing for it.

"Let's go and see if anyone's at home." He said, and before Amy or Mr Wells could say anything to persuade the Doctor to do otherwise, he entered the house.

* * *

_Apologies__ for the slight delay in updating this chapter, and it wasn't a very eventful one, but I hope you liked it all the same :)_

_Any ideas what might be inside the house? Please review! :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_We're now half way through the story people! I hope you're still enjoying it :)_

_Reviews are much appreciated :)_

* * *

Chapter 10

There was something strange about this house, Amy could tell from the moment she entered it. There was a feeling that the house was very old and abandoned as they entered a narrow, dark hallway, the only light seeping through cracks in the front door. There was a musty smell, mixed with something a lot less pleasant, but Amy couldn't quite work out what that was. Masses of cobwebs lined the stained walls, which may have once been a white colour but were now a dirty grey. The place was covered in more dust than an old library. Fungi had began to develop in some corners where the dark carpet had not quite met the wall, and in others slugs and snails lingered with slimy joy.

Amy cringed at the sights and smells, but the Doctor went ahead without a second thought, only merely glancing at the scene as if that was what every house looked like, she wondered if every house on this street was like this. Mr Wells followed slowly after him, looking around nervously, still holding the metal pipe he had carried with him when hunting Autons. Unable to see much else in the windowless hallway, Amy reached for a dust-covered light switch she spotted on the wall.

"Don't touch that!" The Doctor said suddenly, making her and Mr Wells jump.

"Why?" Amy demanded, annoyed with herself as well as the Doctor, why had she become so jumpy all of a sudden?

"I wouldn't trust the electrics in this house, and if there is something living here, we might not want to attract its attention, yet." The Doctor explained in a whisper.

"Well whatever it is isn't doing a very good job of remaining inconspicuous either, seeming as it left a light on up stairs," Amy told him.

"Amy has a point Doctor," Mr Wells piped up, trying to hide the worry in his voice. "Perhaps this is a trap."

"No, I can smell a trap a mile a way," the Doctor said, in deep thought as he sniffed the air. "Especially if the trap is made of cheese."

"Cheese? Are you ill Doctor?" Mr Wells asked after he and Amy exchanged confused glances.

"Me? A Doctor? No I'm never ill. Mad quite possibly, but never ill. I'm just trying to light up the situation." The Doctor said happily, he too felt that there was something bad about this house, but he didn't want to show Amy and Mr Wells how he felt, especially when he didn't know what was making him feel uneasy.

Preferring not to linger in the hallway for two long and with one more confused look from both Mr Wells and Amy, the Doctor headed to the staircase and took a tentative step. There was terrible crunching and creaking noise, and for a moment Amy thought that the stairs were about to collapse. But they remained motionless.

"Well that's not going to attract any attention." She hissed sarcastically, fear prickling her spine as she carefully tread over the dusty floorboards towards the Doctor, trying to make sure she didn't do the same thing.

The Doctor stood on the stair for a moment, listening out carefully for any noise upstairs, just in case he had made something stir. He carefully pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, just in case. But there was silence. The Doctor turned back to Amy and Mr Wells and tried to give them a convincing smile.

"Don't worry, the stairs aren't going to kill us, we'll be safe." He told them as he turned and began to make his way, more carefully and tentatively this time, up the stairs to the next floor.

The next floor in the house was pitch black, the windows were tightly boarded up and all the light bulbs had been taken out of the sockets. The Doctor had to use the green light of the sonic screwdriver just so he could see Amy and Mr Wells standing close behind him. The strange scent hidden within the musty smell was gradually getting worse; Amy felt like she recognised the smell, but she couldn't say why or where from. There was no need to enter the few rooms that were on the second floor; all the doors were open, revealing emptiness behind them. The Doctor gave them a quick wave with his sonic screwdriver to confirm there was nothing mysterious about them, silent with thought. They were about to move onto the third and final floor when Mr Wells stopped them.

"Look at this Doctor," he said, gazing down at the floor. The Doctor and Amy knelt down and looked closely at the floorboards.

At first Amy couldn't see anything strange about the floorboards, only that they looked too old to walk on. But as her eyes slowly became accustomed to the darkness, and the Doctor brought his sonic screwdriver closer, she could see that among the layers of dust, there were footprints.

"Are those _our_ footprints?" Amy asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, they already have a fine layer of dust upon them, these footsteps were recent, but they're still a couple of days old." The Doctor explained, reminding Amy of specks of snow settling on pavements.

"Are they Auton footsteps?" Mr Wells asked.

"Unlikely, these look like something living to me and wearing shoes, an adult human perhaps. But it's hard to tell." The Doctor added, running a finger down one of the footprints.

There followed a pause where all three peered at the footprints, questioning who might have been wandering around the house before them, the silence weighing down upon them like their fear. The house obviously hadn't been occupied for months, perhaps even years, and the way the footsteps went straight into the rooms, did a quick circle and then come out again, it seemed like they were looking for something. Amy glanced around; she didn't see any footsteps going back down the stairs.

"Do you think whoever made these footsteps is still in the house?" She suggested to the Doctor and Mr Wells.

The Doctor shrugged, "it's possible," he said. "Or they might have left the house another way."

"How?"

"There are windows aren't there?" The Doctor pointed out, but he said nothing else, as if he wanted Amy and Mr Wells to dwell on the thought and the picture of someone jumping from the top floor of a three-storey house, or perhaps even flying, if it wasn't human.

Silently, the Doctor stood up and made his way to the stairs which led up to the final floor, Mr Wells followed him after only slight hesitation. For a moment Amy thought about perhaps turning back and leaving the house, her instincts were screaming at her, telling her that something was wrong, she had to get out. But both the Doctor and Mr Wells were now heading up the creaking stairs and she didn't want to be left alone again. She hurried to join them and all three of them made the short journey up to the third floor.

The last floor was very small and narrow; the old, greying walls slanted inwards and the ceiling sloped. There was just two rooms on this floor, one only a few feet wide with the door hanging off its hinges, the Doctor checked but it lead to nothing apart from cobwebs and darkness. The other room's door was still in place, and a light coming through the cracks. The whole upper floor stunk of something vile; finally Amy remembered what it reminded her of. It was the same smell that was left in the science lab when she was still at school in Biology and they had to dissect a cow's liver. The smell was so strong Amy put her T-shirt over her mouth and nose to try and mask the smell.

"Doctor, it stinks! I don't like this one bit." She said in a muffled voice, the horrible feeling she had was growing ever more inside her. But the Doctor ignored her.

"Looks like there may have been some sort of fight up here," Mr Wells observed, looking at the door hanging of its hinges and the scuffed marks on the floorboards, these too looked only a few days old.

"Perhaps," the Doctor murmured, in deep thought once more, ignoring Amy's words. "Or perhaps someone wants us to think that there was a fight. Make us assume that whatever happened here was because of a scuffle."

The Doctor edged closer towards the closed door, the light still gently flickering inside. He paused for a moment, ear pressed to the door, then knocked; there was no reply. He tried again. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" He called softly.

Silence.

Without anything else he could think to do, the Doctor slowly opened the door and peered inside. As he gazed around the nearly empty room, Amy and Mr Wells edged forwards, desperate to know what the Doctor was seeing. Just as Amy reached the Doctor's shoulder, he suddenly slammed the door shut in her face and turned his back on it, blocking her way in.

"What's the matter Doctor? What's in there?" Amy demanded, annoyed. Pulling her T-shirt down from her face.

"Amy I think it's best that you don't go in there." The Doctor told her hastily, a little colour had drained out of his face and he looked very worried, it wasn't often she saw the Doctor acted like this. The smell seemed to have got worse.

"Why not?" Amy paused for a moment, what could make the Doctor become so scared so suddenly? "Is there something in there?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Is it...dead?"

"Yes, she's definitely dead."

"I've seen dead bodies before, thanks to you, I think I can handle another one. I don't like it when you hide things from me." Amy said, trying to push the Doctor out the way of the door. But he stayed where he was.

"Amy I really think it's best if you just leave, both of you." The Doctor said seriously, "I don't want either of you to see this."

"See what?" Amy demanded. "Who's in there? Why won't you let me see anything? What's so bad about a dead body?"

The Doctor sighed, he knew he couldn't hide anything from Amy, he looked her straight in they eye: "her organs are missing."


	11. Chapter 11

_Warning: This chapter contains, for want of a better word, gore. Not the most pleasant chapter to edit, as we're about to enter the room with the light on..._

_Thanks to those who have reviewed so far, please keep them up :)_

* * *

Chapter 11

Amy stood, staring at the Doctor as if she couldn't quite understand what he'd just said, and as the words echoed in her head they made less and less sense. What did the Doctor mean by 'her organs were missing'? How could he tell? How could someone's organs just go missing? She stood her ground, determined to find answers, she would not have any more secrets. Her question were soon answered however as the Doctor, realising that he wouldn't be able to hide it from Amy, stood aside and let the door swing slowly open, revealing what was inside.

The room was almost completely empty. The walls were plain and there was just one large window which was covered in grime. A single light bulb dangled from the ceiling, bathing them all in a yellow light. In the centre of the room was a young woman lying on the floor, Amy guessed she couldn't be much older than herself. The woman's long, dark hair that flowed like a wave across the floor. Her eyes were closed and there was a look of peace on the girl's ghostly white fact. Her arms were close to her side and legs almost straight, they were not bent at odd, jaunted angles as Amy had expected. In fact her whole body looked quite relaxed. It was as if the girl was merely sleeping. But Amy could tell this woman was dead. It didn't a genius to work it out.

There was no blood on the floor, but the young woman's skin was white as a sheet and there was a long slice running running down her torso, the girl's throat had also neatly been slit from ear to ear, there wasn't even a sign of a struggle. There was something strange looking about the body as well, as if it had been deflated. The smell of rotting flesh had got even worse, but that was the last thing that was troubling Amy now.

The Doctor walked past Amy and Mr Wells, who were both still standing by the door staring, horrified, at the body.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the Doctor said almost in a whisper, as he knelt down by the young woman and looked at her closely, there was a deep sorrow in his eyes that betrayed his many years of travelling and hardship. "Mr Wells, do you know this girl?"

"I recognise her face, but I cannot recall where I might have seen her from." Mr Wells replied. He looked how Amy felt as he gazed at the girl's peaceful face. He stepped a little closer, as close as he dared. Then his eyes grew wide as he remembered where he had seen her from, but at the same time he looked ashamed. "She was one of the few who said that they feared no monsters, that they would stay in this part of London, I didn't see her very often because she worked at night, down," Mr Wells paused, part of him didn't want to tell the Doctor this, but he knew he had too. "Down alleyways." He continued, "I didn't see her often, but she was so pretty, she was so bright, she had so much opportunity, but she went down the wrong road and she she needed the money so she…" Mr Wells stopped, as if she was too ashamed to say the word, but the Doctor finished his sentence for him:

"She was a prostitute."

"Yes, it was the only way for her to make enough money. She was desperate..." Mr Wells said quickly, but then sighed, what was the point in trying to defend the girl's honour? She was dead.

"Well this definitely feels like Victorian London now," Amy murmured to herself, her stomach gave a nasty lurch and for a moment she thought she was going to be sick. Her mind felt rigid with shock, but her memory managed to drift back to old school lessons when she was learning about the mysterious Jack the Ripper. But even that serial killer was not as brutal with the bodies as this murderer had been. This was 2040, how could such killings still be happening?

"Prostitutes are always the most vulnerable, that's why there have been so many attacks on them in the past," the Doctor explained. "Easy to fall into the arms of a predator." He looked closer at the wounds that the girl had sustained. "Looks like the cause of death was almost certainly slitting of the throat. But it's this I'm more worried about." The Doctor explained, his index finger followed down the long cut running along the girl's body.

The vertical wound seemed to have been made so the skin could easily be pulled back, whoever did this wanted to get inside the girl's body. The Doctor silently and carefully lifted up the skin, revealing what had been left inside of the poor woman's body.

Amy gasped, because there was hardly anything left in the body.

Thin strips of flesh dangled from the chalk white bones, bright pink in colour, sometimes stained a darker red from the now absent blood. The smell was overwhelming. Some muscle still remained and the diaphragm too was intact, but the lungs had disappeared. The rib cage had almost been torn apart in the murderer's desperation to get to the lungs and heart, which was also missing. In fact all the organs had disappeared just like the Doctor had said: the liver, the kidneys, even the stomach and intestines had been pulled out. The poor girl had become nothing but a shell with a few bones and flesh still remaining. She had been stripped clean from the inside out. For a moment, Amy felt herself sway on the spot and again thought she was going to be sick, or worse pass out, or perhaps even both. She desperately needed some fresh air and somewhere where there were no dead bodies with missing organs, but her feet remained rooted to the spot.

There was a long pause as the shock set in and everyone stared at the body, silent in their horror.

"Is this the work of an Auton?" Mr Wells asked, finally breaking the silence, his voice shaking. Amy noticed that every part of his body seemed to be shaking.

"No," the Doctor said firmly yet sadly as he examined the body a little closer, sonic screwdriver in hand, hardly blinking. "No Auton could do this, none that I have ever seen anyway. They're trained to kill, not to slit throats, not to consume."

"Are you saying," Amy had to pause for a moment, making sure she wasn't going to be sick, she could almost feel her face turning the colour green. Why doesn't she listen to the Doctor more often? She wished more than anything she had stayed on the other side of the door, or perhaps never entered the house at all. "Are you saying that whoever, or whatever, did this _ate _her organs?"

"Why else would they do it?" The Doctor said. "A modern day Jack the Ripper, in need of some meat, perhaps lost their own organs and needed some more. This doesn't look like it was done by human hands to me, Amy. It explains why everyone here has been so fearful, hiding away, even leaving the City. They knew that perhaps there was something was wandering about the streets with such power and desperation to do such a thing. Perhaps they were not running from the Autons, they were running from something much, much worse. Have you heard or seen such things like this before, Mr Wells?"

Mr Wells shook his head, "I've never..._never_ heard of anything like this Doctor, not even in the darkest rumours, I had no idea this was happening. But people have been disappearing for a long time now, it could well have been this beast as well as the Autons. We all knew there was something hiding in the shadows, we just didn't want to admit it, we could just tell this place was cursed and fled before our families were affected."

"Well, it seems we have a lot more to worry about than plastic dummies. Perhaps this isn't even the first victim," The Doctor began. "I wonder why the killer left the light on, a mistake perhaps, or maybe they wanted us to find it-"

"Stop it!" Amy almost shouted suddenly. The Doctor and Mr Wells stared at her, looking as she surprised as she felt at her own outburst. But she had had enough of such words, of such thoughts. They plunged her in so much fear, and she didn't even know why. She usually felt safe around the Doctor, but this time it was the Doctor who was making her feel scared. This woman could be the same age as her and was probably feeling lost and alone in the huge City, just like Amy had the night before. She may not be a prostitute, but how close had she been to being the second victim when she was wondering around, alone? Or perhaps the tenth victim, if there were more bodies out there...

The Doctor however, seemed to understand how she was feeling, or just realised how pale and ill Amy looked, and could tell that Amy needed to leave the scene of the crime.

"We'd better go," he said, standing up. "We can't stay here, the predator may still be near."

Amy nodded, relieved, but she couldn't help shiver at the word 'predator'.

"But what are we going to do with…her?" Mr Wells asked, nodding down at the girl. "We can't just leave her like this."

"There's nothing we can do," the Doctor said sadly. And it was true, there would be nowhere to put the poor girl, they couldn't even bury her.

"Please Doctor, there must be something we can do." Mr Wells almost begged, the thought of leaving the girl here in the state she was in made him feel sick, she deserved some respect.

The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking, knowing that Mr Wells was right. He turned around suddenly and left the room. Amy could hear him clattering about in the room next door, but before she could ask him what he was doing, the Doctor returned with an old, torn curtain wrapped in his arms.

"I found this in the other room," he explained, laying it gently over the dead girl like a blanket. "This will have to do for now, perhaps when all the trouble is over we can give her a proper burial."

Satisfied with this, Mr Wells nodded. All three of them then stood around the body for a moment as if in silent vigil for the poor girl, all three feeling different emotions.

The Doctor's mind was racing, he was confused and he hated feeling confused, but he had no idea what could have possibly done this, however he also felt angry, he wanted to find out who or what had done this and stop them.

Mr Wells felt sadness and worry, he hated the thought of finding and telling the dead girl's parents what had happened, he didn't even know her name, but he knew someone out there loved her and would be wondering where she was.

Amy, on the other hand, felt nothing but pure fear.

It felt like hours before the silence was broken and all three began to leave the room one by one and make their way out of the room and into the outside world. Amy was relieved to go, but fear clung onto her like a disease even after she left the house. The Doctor was last to leave the room but just before he did, he stopped at the doorway and looked sadly once more at the girl, before turning off the light.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

As soon as the Doctor, Amy and Mr Wells were out of the house the Doctor was leading the way again, strolling down the street as fast as he could without breaking into a run, hands thrust deep in his pockets and head down. Amy gazed up at the houses as they walked past; the few, grimy windows were either shrouded in darkness or bordered up so it was impossible to see what was inside. Amy wondered how many others contained dark, bloody secrets like the one she had just seen. The thought gave her a cold shiver yet her hands were clammy with sweat. She stared down at the ground and tried to take her mind off her surroundings.

She knew there was no escape from this place. Even though they had a perfectly working TARDIS standing somewhere amongst the old, dilapidated houses, they couldn't leave now, not with a vicious murderer wandering the streets. Mr Wells had told them there were no police, no one to help them catch a killer or keep the people safe. It was only her and the Doctor to help stop the Autons and whatever else was out there, they couldn't abandon this place.

"Right," said the Doctor loudly and suddenly, stopping in the middle of the street as if he had decided that they were far enough away from the body. He swivelled round to face Mr Wells and Amy, making them jump, a strange look in his eyes that Amy didn't like. "Listen, as you have just seen we appear to have a futuristic and much more dangerous Jack the Ripper walking the streets of London, and I don't like that, in fact I'll admit, it scares me. So I'm setting down some new rules, we will go back to the warehouse and stay there, perhaps try to work what's going on in this place. No one is allowed to go out on their own, no matter what and no one is allowed to go out after dark, even if there is more than one of you. We stay inside and we stay safe. Is everyone happy with that?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"What about the Autons?" Mr Wells asked.

"I'd much rather face a thousand sleeping Autons than have you two out on the streets, especially since we don't even know what the creature is." The Doctor said.

Mr Wells and Amy glanced at each other, as if looking for advice, but both seemed to realise this was the best option. They nodded. The Doctor gave them a small smile as if it was meant to comfort them, but for Amy it did nothing of the sort. Before long they were heading back to the warehouse.

Amy had so many questions she wanted to ask the Doctor about the dead body, many of them she didn't want to ask, but she said nothing. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach and her hands were shaking a little. She continued to tell herself they were making good distance between themselves and the scene of the crime, as if the further they went, the safer they would be. The Doctor and Mr Wells walked ahead, both discussing how someone, or something, could do such a thing to a young girl, and yet leave no trace. Amy decided not to join in with the conversation.

But there was something in Amy's mind that didn't add up about what she had just seen, but it was more about the Doctor than the girl. She didn't want to question the Doctor, but the more Amy thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. In the end, curiosity took over, and she ran ahead to catch up with them.

"Doctor, is there something you're not telling us?" She asked the Doctor once the gory conversation he was having with Mr Wells was over.

"You're going to have to be specific Amy," the Doctor told her, giving her and awkward and confused glance. His playful and enthusiastic attitude had died away like the warmth of the sun.

"Something about the...girl." Amy prompted.

"I think all the detail you needed to know was there right in front of you, or would you like me to explain to you in detail what happened to her?"

"No, it's not that." Amy snapped, it was not like the Doctor to talk in such a way. "Something else."

"Well, what is it then?" The Doctor tried to sound relaxed and curious, but it was clear he was tense.

"How did you know that the girl had all her organs missing?"

"It's obvious isn't it, you saw yourself. There was nothing left of her Amy," the Doctor said softly.

"No, before you…opened her up," Amy grimaced at her own words. "As soon as you opened the door and looked at the girl you knew what had happened to her, you told me yourself before we entered the room. How did you know that?"

"She was looking…rather thin."

"Don't joke about this, Doctor!" Amy snapped at him, irritated and upset, they had just seen the body of a murdered girl and he could tell what brutal things had happened to her body because she was 'thin'. She tried again: "Tell me the truth, how did you know her organs were missing just by glancing at her?"

The Doctor fell silent, looking down at the cobbled ground. He knew that the comment was inappropriate, but some small part of him hoped that Amy would believe it and not continue to ask him questions, he didn't want her to know the truth. Unfortunately his silence seemed to help Amy work it out for herself, or perhaps she had already guessed the answer before she had asked him.

"You've seen this before, haven't you?" She asked. The Doctor flinched, she could tell he hated the tone in her voice; it was one of horror, of disgust, even though she had tried to hide what she felt.

"Only once," the Doctor admitted, there was no point lying to Amy. He stared ahead, at Mr Wells who was steadily walking in front of them, allowing them to have a private conversation. "It's not something you easily forget."

"When?" Amy demanded, staring up at the Doctor, but he seemed unable to look at her straight in the eye. Was he feeling guilty? "When did you see this, Doctor?"

"A long time ago, a life time ago. There was a man, he was…I don't know how to describe him. Mad, would be the best word, mad and evil, and always hungry. He couldn't satisfy his hunger, not for a minute. He turned to…other things to try and fill his stomach. And I found one of the bodies; I saw what he had done. That isn't something you forget in a hurry, though I tried to."

There was a pause as Amy thought through what the Doctor had said. At least one thing made sense in her mind; it wouldn't be an easy thing to forget. She imagined if she saw a similar body again she would immediately know what had happened. That terrible smell, the pale face, the lack of blood, the long cut down the side. She understood now, but why didn't the Doctor tell her this before?

"This man," Amy said slowly, "could he be the same man that had done this to the girl?"

"No!" The Doctor snapped suddenly, taking Amy by surprise. "That man is dead," he told her harshly, but then his voice became more solemn. "Dead, or lost in the depths of time. Either way, it can't be him."

After that, Amy decided she didn't want to ask anything else, and even though she was angry with the Doctor for all the things he had done in the past day; lying to her, abandoning her, she didn't want to upset him. Silence fell over the group as they walked steadily onwards, Mr Wells slowed to catch up with Amy and the Doctor, and they walked three in a row. Amy felt safer in the small group, but she was still very uneasy.

The warehouse came back into view just under half an hour after that; the great, looming grey building that cast them in shadow. Amy sighed with relief at the sight of it, grateful that Mr Wells and the Doctor managed to remember their way back, she hadn't realised they had wondered so far away from it, or perhaps it was just because the silence had made the journey longer. Despite the knowledge that the warehouse would be filled of hundreds of Autons, which were merely sleeping, it was still a comfort to Amy that they had made it.

They were approaching the door when all feeling of relief and comfort drained from Amy like water pouring through cupped hands. The Doctor had begun talking again, reminding everyone that they had to stay inside, but Amy wasn't listening. Her gaze slowly towards the dark passage ways that surrounded them, knowing in the pit of her stomach what she was going to see and almost hoping that she would see it.

She had almost forgotten about the man she had met the night before after all that had happened. Almost.

Sure enough, the Stranger stood in the shadow of an alleyway just a few metres away from the warehouse. They had walked right past him in their urgency to get inside. Even now The Doctor and Mr Wells seemed completely oblivious to him, as they continued to talk loudly, discussing what their now limited options were and not noticing what Amy was staring out. But she could see the hooded silhouette clearly. As she continued to watch the Stranger slowly raised a hand and beckoned her towards him.

As if he was the puppet master and Amy was tied to the strings, she felt like she was being dragged away from the warehouse and towards the alleyway. The Doctor's warnings to stay inside and not to wander off alone had already drifted from her head as she approached the Stranger.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The Stranger stood in the darkness of the alleyway as he always seemed to do, still wearing the same dark, hooded cloak, he was motionless as Amy advanced. His face was empty of emotion but something told Amy he was pleased that she would come to him, and knew that she would. She wondered if he had been watching her the whole day, and knew what she had seen. She stopped just a few feet from him, and turned her head just to see the Doctor and Mr Wells, who hadn't noticed she had disappeared, entering the warehouse. The Stranger waited until they had disappeared before he spoke.

"You look very pale Amy," he noted, though he didn't sound particularly concerned, Amy was sure she saw him smile. "Is something troubling you?"

"I'm sure you know already," Amy murmured to herself, she was almost positive that the Stranger could read her mind.

She stared down at the floor of the cluttered alleyway; pieces of metal, broken planks of wood and even an old oil lamp with a candle still flickering inside lay abandoned about her feet. She could feel the Stranger's eyes piercing her and they frightened her. It wasn't because they were so dark or that they seemed to see everything, it was because she had no way of knowing his emotions, she didn't know what he was thinking in his coal black eyes. Were they the yes of a sympathiser, a friend, or an enemy?

"Well?" The Stranger was still awaiting a reply. Perhaps he couldn't read her mind, Amy wondered, or just wanted to hear it directly from her. Perhaps he didn't like the silence that had descended upon them in the alleyway.

"I saw a murder." Amy told him, the words falling out of her mouth before considering whether it was a good idea to tell the Stranger. There was no need to tell him all the gory details, he could tell it was bad from the dark tone of her voice.

"I see," Amy was sure that the Stranger smiled that time, she scowled at him. "Were you scared?" He asked.

"No!" Amy snapped automatically, but then she remembered the pale girl's face. "Yes," she admitted, eyes still focused on the ground.

"You certainly look scared now," the Stranger observed, trying to sound as concerned and caring as possible but Amy had a horrible feeling he was enjoying himself.

"It's because I think I know who did it." Amy told the Stranger, taking her eyes off the ground and looking him straight in the eye defiantly.

"Who?" Though Amy could tell the Stranger already knew the answer.

"You." Amy said quickly, losing her nerves at the last minute and looking down at her feet again. She tried to resist the urge to kick herself. What was she thinking? Was she trying to be brave, trying to be the hero by meeting with a murderer alone? It was foolish. If she had such suspicions, why did she go to him? Why didn't she run and warn the Doctor?

"Well," the Stranger shrugged, and began to chuckle darkly. "I have to eat something don't I?"

"So it _was_ you!" Amy almost shouted, horrified. Suddenly she didn't feel scared any more, she just felt angry, angry with herself that she had led herself into such an obvious trap and angry at the Stranger for what he had done to that poor girl. Bending down swiftly, she grabbed the lamp that was lying on the ground and shoved it into the Stranger's face as if to protect herself from him. "What the hell are you!?" She demanded.

But then the Stranger reacted in a very peculiar way. Amy thought that he might laugh at her or try to attack her, but he did neither of those things. Instead his knees almost buckled, he threw his hands up to protect his face and kept his head down before swiftly beginning to back away from Amy and the lamp.

"Please don't!" He cried as he cowered before Amy. She froze, wondering why this sudden change had occurred in the Stranger by just one simple gesture. Suddenly he didn't look like a terrifying murderer any more. "Please, I can't stand the light! It burns my skin!"

"What?" Amy simply gaped down at the Stranger with a mixture of surprise and confusion, lamp still in hand.

"Put the lamp down! Why else do you think I hide in the shadows? I can't stand the sun; I can't stand the light!" The Strange was almost beginning, he seemed so afraid of such a small light.

"Who did this to you?" Amy demanded, astonished. But it was beginning to make sense, the Stranger was always hiding in the shadows, everywhere she went and she couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for him, what must it be like to never be able to go out into the light, to always be hiding from the sun?

"The Doctor!" The Stranger shouted, still cowering away from the lantern. "It's always the Doctor! Throughout my life he has tried to destroy me, that's why I can't step outside, or else I'll burn, that's why I have to steal other peoples organs, just to survive! It's the Doctor's fault that girl's dead and I'm hiding here! He tore me apart, I needed the new organs or else I would die."

Slowly, Amy lowered the light. The images of him killing and eating the girl made her want to be sick, but what was most shocking was that he blamed the Doctor for making him do such a thing. But how could the Doctor do this to someone, how could her raggedy man cause such pain and desperation? However it did explain why the Stranger was continuously warning her about the Doctor.

"How many more victims are there?" Amy questioned him; she didn't feel afraid now she knew the Stranger's weakness and the truth about him hiding away all the time. But that didn't stop her from being his next victim, if he had done it before, he could do it again.

"None here, none in London." The Stranger said quickly, still cowering a little before Amy as if he feared she might use the lantern again, "I usually don't have to kill to survive, but time travelling wastes my energy, it makes me hungry and it destroys my body. I have to eat."

Realisation for Amy seemed to seep in at these words. "Are you trying to seek revenge from the Doctor? Is that why you came to me?"

"No," the Stranger replied in a sudden serious, harsh voice. Now that the lamp had been lowered, and the Stranger felt certain that Amy wasn't going to use it, he stood up straight again, and there was no sign of fear on his face. "I'm trying to prevent him destroying your life as he did with mine, as he has done with everyone else."

_You're not trying very hard, _a rational voice pointed out in the back of Amy's mind, and it was true. The Stranger was not protecting her, just scaring her with peculiar warnings and terrible stories. But once more the Stranger seemed to be reading her mind.

"You still want your proof?" He asked her. "He's already begun to ruin your life Amy, and I will show you what I mean if the signs so far haven't been enough. But you still have to give me time."

Amy nodded silently, but then she hesitated. Why did he need time? The Doctor hadn't ruined her life, if he had she would remember, wouldn't she? And she was usually happy travelling with the Doctor, nothing was wrong with her life.

But there was something, that niggling doubt at the back of her mind that seemed to have been bothering her for weeks, and since she had come to London seemed to be growing by the hour. The feeling that something was missing, as if she had suffered a great loss. Perhaps something had change that she wasn't aware of.

Whatever might have changed in her past though, the Doctor wasn't the one who was eating people. Amy looked up at the Stranger again, her eyes stern: "I don't think I should see you again." She said, she tried to fill her voice with authority and seriousness, but it just sounded small and weak.

"Why not?" The Stranger asked, he seemed surprised by this sudden statement.

"Because you may say terrible things about the Doctor, but you're no better than him, how do I know that I'll be your next victim? I don't care what the Doctor did, I think it's safer if I stay with him, and not with you."

For a moment the Stranger's face flash with anger as she said this, but then he calmed a little and he nodded.

"Yes, you're quite right in thinking so, you're an intelligent girl. But you are not my victim Amy and I think despite what you say you'll see me soon again." A sly smile broke out across his serious face. "Besides, there are more dangerous things to worry about at the moment."

"More dangerous than you?" Amy said before she could stop herself. For a moment she thought she might have made the Stranger angry by saying this, but he seemed to find it amusing.

"Yes, I thought you would have already realised, since you have already bumped into one. In fact I was the one who had to save you from it." The Stranger reminded her.

"The Autons," Amy muttered under her breath, her eyes wide with worry. "How do you know about the Autons?" She demanded, but then paused, and her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Are you controlling them?"

"Amy, the Autons are positioned all over the world. How could I do such a thing all by myself?" The Stranger asked innocently. "I only see them standing there, looking harmless to others, but I know what power they are capable of and I know what someone is using them for." He gave her another flickering, dark smile. "So you'd better run back to your precious Doctor Amelia, because at the moment it may be just one or two Autons walking around, but soon they will awaken, and then you will have something to worry about."

And unfortunately, the Stranger was right.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Amy was not the only visitor the Stranger met that day. He had just left the alleyway they had met and was swiftly making his way through another one when someone appeared in front of him and he ground to a halt, hissing with frustration.

"I thought I wouldn't be disturbed by you people again, I like my privacy, remember?" The Stranger told the small, trembling figure through gritted teeth. He knew why he was here.

"I...I know...but, but they wanted me to tell you...they think it's ready." Stuttered the young man before the Stranger.

"Then what are they waiting for?" The Stranger snapped. "Go ahead with it!"

The young man nodded, shaking. "They, they have, they just wanted to, to let you know..." He began.

The Stranger observed his fear with slight amusement. "Too cowardly to come personally so they sent a messenger instead did they? Get out of my sight, I'm starting to get hungry again, and I'm not adverse to shooting the messenger." He growled.

The young man didn't need telling twice, he turned and pelted out of the alleyway. The Stranger watched him go and wished he had time to chase and strike on his new prey, but alas that would have to wait until another time. The young man's message meant that finally his plans could swing into action, and he had no time to waste.

* * *

Mr Wells sat on the cold floor of the warehouse and leaned his back against the hard wall, it wasn't a very comfortable position, but he hardly noticed. He never thought he would be glad to be stuck in this warehouse, but at the moment it seemed to be safest place in London, so he was happy to stay. The sleepless night was beginning to catch up with him though, so he sat with his eyes closed, pleased to have some silence, and tried to get some sleep. He tried not to think about the worries that plagued his mind, about the poor girl lying dead in an old building. He sorely missed his family, but was now pleased with his decision to send them away, if he hadn't, who knows what might have happened to them?

He was right, this place was cursed.

As Mr Wells slipped into the silent emptiness that shrouded his senses as he drifted slowly to sleep, a nose suddenly disturbed him and despite his tiredness his head snapped up and his eyes flew wide open. He quickly glanced around at the walls surrounding him, the Doctor had advised not to turn the light on, so everything was dim and hazy due to the light from the few, murky windows they had, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He was about to close his eyes again, dismissing it as a figment of his imagination, when he heard another noise and was sure it was not in his head this time. Whatever made the noise seemed only to be a few feet from him.

"Doctor?" Mr Wells said hopefully, turning his head slightly so he could see what was making the strange, creaking, clunking noise, which was growing louder.

And found himself face to face with an Auton.

With a cry, Mr Wells jumped up, backing away from the Auton as it watched him with empty eyes. He could see other Autons around him stirring too. He glanced down a row of mannequins, and saw that all of them were slowly beginning to awaken from some deep sleep. Lifting their heavy limbs and turning their heads in his direction.

* * *

Amy was heading slowly to the warehouse, her head filled with thoughts, when she saw the Doctor. He had spotted her from the window and was storming towards her. She didn't need to see his face to know that he was fuming with anger.

"Amy!" The Doctor's eyes were burning with rage, but also with fear, as he grabbed Amy tightly by the shoulders. "I thought I told you to stay in the storage facility, I told you that we had to stick together!"

"I know that," Amy mumbled, knowing that she had done wrong, she found it hard to look into his eyes. His fingernails were digging into her shoulders. "Get off me!" She snapped, irritated, it wasn't like the Doctor to act so angry.

"I do this for your own good Amy," he snapped. Amy was beginning to feel like a child again, being told off by her angry Aunt or teacher. "Now get inside where it's safe before you get hurt!"

Amy was about to reply, telling the Doctor that someone had actually already been hurt, and trying to think of a good excuse to why she had disobeyed him and wandered off into the darkness, when both she and the Doctor heard a cry.

"Doctor!" Mr Wells burst out of the warehouse and ran towards them, his face glistening with sweat. "Doctor, something's happening with the Autons, they're, they're waking up." He panted.

"What?"

"All of them, not just one or two, they're all starting to get up and they're coming outside!"

The Doctor suddenly seemed to lose all the anger and confusion as colour drained from his face. The Autons had been the last thing on his mind, he had almost forgotten about them after seeing the murdered girl, he had taken his friends to a warehouse packed full of them, and now they were all waking up.

Without a second thought the Doctor turned and bolted towards the warehouse. Sure enough, a large group of Autons was already gathering at the door, reaching out to the outside world with slow, stiff arms. They all looked up when the Doctor appeared at the doorway, but didn't have much time to react at this sudden presence and their first target, as the Doctor was much quicker. He backed away from the warehouse quickly, slamming the door shut and hastily locking it with his sonic screwdriver. He could hear their many fists already beginning to bang on the door, desperate to get to a victim, but for now they were stuck.

"OK then, it seems that we have a problem." The Doctor said as calmly as possible as he walked swiftly back to Amy and Mr Wells. Bangs echoed from the warehouse as the living mannquins continued to try and break it down. "The warehouse is possibly not,"

_Bang! _

"The safest place,"

_Bang!_

"To hide,"

_BANG!_

"any more."

Amy wasn't sure what was worse, the sound of the Auton's trying to escape or the constant interruptions as the Doctor turned to Mr Wells and shouted over the banging: "Can you suggest a safer place for us to go while I work out why the Autons have suddenly decided to come to life and kill us?" He asked as casually as possible.

Mr Wells nodded, but found it hard to reply as he held up a shaking finger towards the warehouse door: "D, Doctor," he stuttered, "they're coming!"

The Doctor and Amy turned to see that the door of the warehouse had been blown off its hinges by some extreme force, and now Autons were trying to step into the outside world. However there were so many of them trying to do so at once that they had got themselves jammed in the doorway. One Auton just had its head and arm sticking out through the open door, but as it turned to face the three figures it rose its hand, revealing the same barrel, like a gun, that Amy had seen before.

"Run!" The Doctor shouted.

Amy wasn't sure how she managed to get moving, she felt as if her feet had been stuck to the floor with fear, but before she knew what she was doing she was running as fast as she could alongside the Doctor and Mr Wells. Her whole skeleton seemed to jolt whenever her feet contacted the hard ground as they covered as much ground as they could with their fear, but she kept going. Before long however Amy could feel her lungs beginning to burn, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep on running for much longer. Suddenly the Doctor swung into the doorway of a house, Amy and Mr Wells quickly followed after him. They gathered around the small, cramped doorway, silent and afraid, staring out into the dimness of the City.

It seemed that the Autons were, for now, not interested in a game of cat and mouse. They had not rushed after the Doctor, Mr Wells or Amy; in fact it seemed that they weren't even looking for them. Hundreds of Autons were lining the street in neat rows, just like they had been in the warehouse. Some were pulling on their limbs that had obviously been taken apart sometime before. They were all doing the same thing at the same time: marching down the street as if they were an army, weapons at the ready.

"What do we do?" Mr Wells murmured to the Doctor, trying his best not to panic. Amy remained silent, remembering what the Stranger had told her, she should have warned the Doctor but there had been no time for a warning, it had all happened so suddenly.

And only the Stranger knew it was going to happen.

"Don't worry, we'll be safe. I have somewhere we can go where we'll be safe. The Autons won't be able to harm us there." The Doctor explained in a hushed whisper, and Amy knew that he was talking about the TARDIS. But he hardly had time to say any more, as a huge blast echoed around them, destroying the silence of the City.

The Autons had started to attack, but they were not attacking Amy, the Doctor or Mr Wells. They were still marching in a line, their heads moving robotically from side to side, looking at each building they passed, then raising their energy blasters and shooting. The old, abandoned houses stood no chance against the Autons, and they quickly burst into balls of flame, one after another. Some of them even came tumbling to the ground with an almighty crash. The three figures watched this sight for a few moments in silent shock, before someone spoke again.

"They're going to destroy the whole City!" Mr Wells cried out in fear before he could stop himself.

"It'll be all right," the Doctor tried to assure Mr Wells and the pale-looking Amy. "Don't worry, I'll find a way to stop them, they're all doing the same thing, they're all being controlled by the same thing. And they're movements are simple, they are powerful, but simple. Perhaps they are being controlled by some sort of signal, if we can find this signal, then maybe we can—" but the Doctor never managed to finish his sentence. He had fallen suddenly silent; and his eyes grew wide with shock and fear.

"What is it Doctor?" Amy asked urgently, hating this silence that had suddenly fallen over him, this was not like the Doctor.

"My TARDIS key," the Doctor murmured slowly, fumbling around in his tweed jacket pocket, his eyes still wide. "It's...burning."

The Doctor held the TARDIS key out in the palm of his hand, and Mr Wells and Amy could see the key beginning to glow a bright gold, they could almost feel the warmth omitting from it. Amy had no idea what it meant, but to her amazement the Doctor was starting to panic. He didn't even seem to notice the burning key in his hand as he glanced around wildly.

"Someone's breaking into the TARDIS," the Doctor said in a hoarse voice.

And before Mr Wells or Amy could do or say anything, the Doctor turned and ran.


	15. Chapter 15

_Apologies for the slight delay in updating this chapter, I hope you like it and are still enjoying the story, and thanks again to all who have reviewed so far :)_

* * *

Chapter 15

The Doctor reached the TARDIS at lightning speed, Amy and Mr Wells appearing a few metres behind him, already out of breath. The TARDIS looked perfectly normal, nothing about the ancient blue telephone box had changed, but the Doctor wasted no time in circling his precious spaceship, checking every inch, before unlocking the TARDIS door, yanking it open and hurrying inside. Amy rushed in after him, Mr Wells followed too, but he hesitated as he entered the blue box and couldn't help but gasp when he saw what was inside.

"Yes it's a spaceship, yes it's bigger on the inside and yes there is a swimming pool in the library!" The Doctor called to Mr Wells as he stared in wonder at the TARDIS. "But we have more pressing things to worry about!"

It took a while for the wide-eyed Mr Wells to reply, and when he did he simply murmured, "Who would put a swimming pool in a library?"

For a moment Amy thought that the Doctor was going mad, after travelling with him for so long even she had never seen him act in such a peculiar way. He was running round and round the TARDIS, checking the controls again and again, running up and down the stairs, emptying random boxes and tipping the contents all over the TARDIS floor. Multicoloured scarves, a crystal ball with three voices screaming inside it, an old looking sonic screwdriver, a girl's jacket and a nasty looking weapon (which the Doctor hastily explained was actually a broken hair dryer) flew across the TARDIS floor as Amy watched, stunned. Loud crashing sounds echoed all around as the Doctor pulled out useless seeming objects, glanced at them and then chucked them over his shoulder. He didn't speak or even look at Amy as he ran from one of the TARDIS to the other, never out of breath, the fear in his eyes never dying away.

As Amy watched the Doctor, she tried to think of anything she could do to help, but her mind was blank. She considered calming the Doctor down, but if she didn't know what was wrong, how could she put his mind at rest? She wanted to ask him about it, but she could hardly get a word out before the Doctor had disappeared up the stairs once more or started throwing more things across the room. She thought of joining in, but she had no idea what the Doctor was searching for. Meanwhile Mr Wells simply walked round in slow circles, gazing up in wonder at the TARDIS. Deep down he had known there was something alien about these two, after seeing plastic dummies come to life he he would believe anything, and the TARDIS seemed to confirm his suspicions. He was too full of wonder however to feel afraid, he hardly seemed to notice what was going on around him.

After what seemed like an age, the Doctor eventually slowed down to a stop. "Well," he panted, collapsing in his chair. Amy wasn't surprised to see that he was exhausted. "It seems that nothing has been taken, nothing has disappeared. Nothing important anyway."

"I'm surprised you manage to keep track of everything Doctor," Amy told him as she stepped carefully over the items now cluttering the TARDIS floor. "Any idea who might have broken in here?" She asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, but deep down she knew who had broken into the TARDIS, she just hoped that the Doctor didn't, it had made her all the more afraid.

"No idea," the Doctor replied, to her relief. "I thought we were the only people here and I didn't think anyone alive would be able to break into a TARDIS, it takes effort to even notice that it's standing right in front of them."

"Do you know who would _want_ to break in here?" Mr Wells asked, breaking his gaze from the TARDIS walls and looking over at the Doctor.

"No," The Doctor admitted, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders at the same time. "Unless…" he stood up slowly, an idea coming to his mind. "Unless it was some sort of distraction, to take our minds off the Autons. They didn't want anything, perhaps they didn't even manage to get in, they just wanted us off the streets Whoever, or whatever, is controlling the Autons is now letting them destroy and perhaps even take over London, starting at the lowest possible end so that no one would notice, no one would care until it was too late. But then us three came along, perhaps the only three who can stop the Autons and know what's going to happen, so the controller needed to create a distraction."

"Well, shouldn't we stop looking for nothing in particular then and start concentrating on the Autons again?" Amy suggested, hoping it would help take the Doctor's mind off any possible burglars.

"You're right Amy," said the Doctor quickly; he dashed over to the TARDIS controls again, his usual enthusiasm beginning to return. "And this may be the best place to try and stop the Autons. Why didn't I think of it before?" He muttered to himself before turning to Mr Wells and sounding enthusiastic once more. "In trying to distract us, the controller has helped us instead! Mr Wells, before we ran here I was talking about how the Autons might be being controlled by some sort of signal. Any idea what that signal might be?"

"No…" Mr Wells began, but then he thought for a while, and a small smile of realisation broke out over his face. He could feel hope rushing through him like the warmth of the sun, perhaps the Doctor could save London after all. "There was something though, all the mannequins have a chip inside their heads these days, it was only to make sure that the companies could keep track of them, just in case they were lost or stolen. They were tracked by satellites." But then Mr Wells' face fell again, "it was only simple technology though, I don't think it was enough to control the Autons with."

"No Mr Wells, you're right, it's not possible, but it's not_ im_possible either." The Doctor pointed out. Amy could see his mind whirring as he leaned against the TARDIS controls. "Perhaps the chip was more than just for tracking. Of course at first to keep a low profile that was all it was used for, it was so small and insignificant even my sonic screwdriver didn't pick it up. But at night perhaps someone flicks a switch, and the use for the chip changes. The dummies could then be used just like they were robots and they could be do anything that the controller wanted, and the controller could watch them do it by tracking them with the satellite. They're not even real Autons, there's no nestene consciousness, only buttons and switches and radio waves." He muttered to himself, then he paused for a moment, thinking. "However, there's a slight glitch."

"There always is," Amy mumbled to herself.

"The chip may be powerful, but it's not _that_ powerful." The Doctor continued. "I don't know if there would be enough technology on this Earth for humans to control Autons in such a way."

"So you mean...aliens?" Mr Wells said. A few days ago he would have laughed the idea off, but he was currently standing in a box which was bigger on the inside with robotic mannequins trying to take over the City. Aliens seemed like a perfectly good explanation now.

"Should have known from the start," Amy said light-heartedly, more to herself than to anyone else. However the excitement and adrenaline had pumped colour back into her cheeks and helped her forget about what else was standing in the streets of London as they spoke.

The Doctor smiled at Amy's comment, "But for now we don't have to worry about the controller." He added.

"Why not?" Mr Wells asked.

"Because I have something much more powerful, with a lot more switches!" The Doctor said happily, patting the TARDIS. "I can prevent the signals coming from the satellite by simply switching the satellite off, preventing the Autons being tracked. I can then destroy all signals going to and from the Autons in any shape or form. They would cease to work. After that it will be quite easy to find the controller, before he or she realises and if they haven't already started running for the stars."

Just as the Doctor finished his sentence, and there was a feeling that all would work out well in the end for the City of London and the rest of the world, all three of them heard a loud, but muffled, boom coming from outside. The Doctor, without hesitation, rushed to the TARDIS door and opened it a crack, peering out into the darkness.

The Autons seemed to have split up into smaller but still powerful groups, there were at least a hundred of them marching down the street, blasting the buildings around them into pieces, and they were heading closer and closer to the TARDIS. The Doctor quickly withdrew his head and shut the door.

"Well it seems we may have another problem," the Doctor said, his tone still light.

"Another one?" At these words Amy's adrenaline started to wear off, and she was more worried than excited. Suddenly she felt trapped.

"If the Autons sense that something's wrong, they'll probably go straight to the place where the problem is," the Doctor explained. "Which is here."

"But nothing can get in here." Amy reminded the Doctor in a worried voice.

"That's what I though, but someone did manage to break in." The Doctor pointed out.

"So we have no time to lose." Mr Wells said hurriedly, he too seemed to be starting to panic again.

"Quite right," said the Doctor, still sounding enthusiastic despite the danger. "Don't worry, this'll all be done in a jiffy. Only I can't watch the Autons while I'm trying to work the satellite. We need someone to keep an eye on the Autons outside for us..." He glanced around at Mr Wells and Amy, both of them seemed reluctant to volunteer.

But then something inside Amy, despite her fear and trepidation, stirred, and pointed out that there could be some benefit in getting away from the Doctor and Mr Wells. After all, the Stranger was still out there, and now she had even more questions to ask. "I'll do it." She said.

At first the Doctor looked concerned. "Are you sure?" He asked, but he smiled broadly when Amy nodded. "Well done, Pond! Knew I could always count on you!" Amy couldn't help but feel guilty at his words. "Don't worry, just stay within the shield of the TARDIS and you'll be safe. However if you feel you need to come straight back inside. Don't attract any attention to yourself, just keep quiet and keep hidden."

Amy nodded, "I'll be fine Doctor," she said as calmly as possible. Her cheeks, which had only minutes ago burned red with adrenaline, were now cold and drained of colour, she hoped no one else had noticed. Despite all her doubts about the Doctor she could tell he trusted her and for some reason that broke her heart. Again she felt a sudden urge to tell him everything she had felt since coming here and everything she knew about the Stranger. But the words were trapped in her throat like a bird in a cage, and the TARDIS door had already swung open.

The Doctor gave a comforting smile as he opened the door and watch Amy step out onto the street. Something told him this was a bad idea and he couldn't help but feel worried about Amy, something had definitely changed about her recently. Yet he ignored the nagging doubts and told himself he wouldn't have to keep his precious Pond standing out there for long, she could be trusted, she would be safe. He had faced worse things than Autons, soon everything would be set right again.

However, little did the Doctor know what a great mistake he had just made.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A cold breeze bit into Amy's skin as she stood outside the TARDIS, watching the Autons march towards her, she was annoyed at herself at volunteering, now she was stuck outside alone it didn't seem like such a good idea, but for some reason she didn't feel afraid. The sun was setting again over the many tangled streets of London, turning the sky a bright orange and then a blood red, matching the colour of the flames around her. Was the day really fading already? Or perhaps the Earth had foreseen the terror that was occurring in London, and had decided to shut it off from the rest of the world by plunging it into an early darkness.

Amy leaned against the TARDIS; her eyes constantly focused on the marching Autons, but her mind in other places. She could hear the Doctor and Mr Wells talking inside loudly, every now and then she thought she heard the Doctor laugh, things were obviously going well, whatever they were doing. She wondered how long she would have to wait outside and how long the Doctor would be until her shut the Autons down. They hadn't shown any sign of weakening yet.

Suddenly, to Amy's surprise, when the Autons were only a few metres away from the TARDIS, they turned sharply to the right and began to march down another street. Amy had assumed that the Autons were going to keep on walking in their straight line, which meant walking right past the TARDIS, but now they were walking away from it. Even though the Doctor had assured her the TARDIS shield would protect her, she assumed the Autons would be able to detect her easily, and yet they hadn't even glanced at her. They had walked away. Why would they do that?

Amy put the question in her mind to one side however, when she saw the Stranger standing just outside an alleyway not far from the TARDIS, between two buildings that had not yet been attacked, watching her closely with one of his dark smiles and beckoning her towards him. This was what Amy had secretly hoped for. She knew the man was dangerous, yet his tantalising secrets and mysterious answers had her addicted to him like a drug. Besides, there was no more danger for the Doctor or Mr Wells now the Autons had moved away and they were so busy inside the TARDIS they wouldn't even notice if she was gone for a few minutes.

Without a second thought, Amy went to the Stranger.

"Abandoned in the dark again?" He asked, amused, backing further into the alleyway to allow Amy to enter.

"It's not what it looks like," she explained quickly, she didn't want the Stranger to think the Doctor had abandoned her again, even though in a way, that was how she felt. Amy glared up at the Stranger as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, feeling chilly despite being surrounded by burning buildings. She wondered if the man she was standing before ever greeted people normally, did he ever even say hello? No, he always skipped straight to the point. But perhaps that was a good thing.

"Oh please, the Doctor knows fully well that no one can damage the TARDIS, especially from the outside." Said the Stranger, gazing past Amy's shoulder to where the TARDIS stood. "So why would he let you stand out here, alone?"

"How do you know so much about the TARDIS?" Amy demanded, hastily changing the subject and glared at the Stranger as he smirked at her question, as if it was obvious.

"I know lots of things Amy. Including the fact that as we speak thousands of Autons across the world are quite probably coming to life and taking over the great cities of the world, and yet you don't seem concerned about that. Mind you, neither does the Doctor, he only seems to care for precious London."

"You don't seem to care either." Amy pointed out.

"I don't belong to this world Amy. My world is dead, why should I care about this one?" The Stranger replied bitterly.

"Why are you here?" Amy asked, shaking her head at this alien conversation, but then she added sarcastically. "Oh no wait, I think I've already worked that one out. You were the one that broke into the TARDIS. I think I would want someone to keep watch too if my indestructible spaceship had been burgled like a common house."

"Amy, I promised to find evidence for you that the Doctor was ruining your life, and for that I needed to break into the TARDIS." The Stranger explained with a shrug, as if it was nothing.

"You're always causing trouble!" Amy snapped angrily, she was fed up with how this Stranger talked to coolly, so calmly about such important things. "You wait in the shadows, you killed that girl, you broke into the TARDIS, what next?"

The Stranger chuckled, "That makes us so alike Amy. It's not our fault if trouble keeps on following us—"

"I'm nothing like you, you are _making _the trouble!" Amy snapped at the Stranger; she didn't want to hear the sad excuses that he had in store and she didn't want to be compared to a killer.

"Perhaps if my life hadn't been ruined by your beloved Time Lord, I wouldn't have to cause the trouble!" The Stranger almost shouted back at Amy, but just as Amy was growing afraid of the anger in his face, he began to calm down again. "The Doctor causes much more trouble than me anyway." He added.

Amy was about to deny what the Stranger said, but then she stopped herself as she realised that he did have a point. The Doctor always seemed to causing trouble, or leading her into trouble wherever they went. It used to be exciting, it used to be fun, but as she gazed up into the face of the stern Stranger, Amy decided that it was no longer fun.

"Why do you want to see me?" She muttered, averting her eyes from his face.

"To give you proof. Ask and you shall receive!" The Stranger smirked again. Amy watched him carefully as he pulled from under his cloak a brown paper bag.

"Is that it?" Amy asked, she couldn't help feeling disappointed, though she didn't know what she had been expecting. But the Stranger had become stern again.

"Beware Amy Pond, because this may seem small and insignificant at the moment but inside lies one of the many secrets that have been locked away in your consciousness because of the Doctor, and you never even realised."

"I don't understand." Amy admitted.

"You will when you open it." He told her. Amy was about to reach forward to take the paper bag from the Stranger, but he pulled it away from her, the bag still held tightly in his hand. "Beware Amy, open this only when you feel ready, or else the consequences might be disastrous."

Disastrous? What did he mean by that? What small secret could cause such terrible consequences? Amy thought to herself, "I still don't understand." She said aloud.

"I don't expect you to, I just want you to heed my words and be careful." The Stranger held the paper bag out to Amy again; "do you promise?"

Amy hesitated, she hadn't even expected the Stranger to come up with any evidence at all, she thought he had been bluffing. Now all of a sudden he had got something that was apparently very important to her, yet if not treated carefully it could be dangerous, and it had been in the TARDIS with her all along. Would she even be able to tell when she was ready to open the bag? Would she be able to keep this promise? It was so hard to trust the Stranger, but then Amy decided that she was stronger than the Stranger assumed, and she had been waiting for days for something to confirm the doubt in her mind. Even if its presence worried her, she couldn't turn away from it now, when all the answers might be right in front of her, in a paper bag.

"Yes," she said finally, "I promise."

"Good," said the Stranger, he sounded happy with the result, but he didn't smile. He handed the paper bag over to Amy.

There was a short silence as Amy felt the bag she was holding, whatever was inside it was shaped like a box and very small, how could something so small make such a big difference? She supposed she would only know when she opened it. She could feel the Stranger staring down at her, watching her carefully. A loud explosion from a nearby street however brought Amy quickly out of her thoughts and she jumped, looking around nervously to see if any Autons were near.

"Sounds like it's time for you to go." Said the Stranger calmly, he hadn't even reacted to the sound of the explosion. Amy couldn't quite understand the tone in his voice, was he solemn? But she didn't want to know any more, the situation was beginning to make her feel nervous with the Autons so close by, even though there were a dozen more questions she wanted to ask, she felt glad to able to get away. Amy knew she would feel a lot safer if she was at least standing outside the TARDIS, so she nodded quickly and turned to leave.

"Remember what I told you," the Stranger called in a low voice after her as she walked out of the alleyway back to the TARDIS. Amy didn't look behind her as the Stranger disappeared into the shadows.

Back at the safety (although how safe it really was Amy wasn't sure) of the shadow of the TARDIS, she sat on the hard ground and gazed at the paper bag. She was itching to know what was inside, but she still didn't know how she would be able to tell when she was ready to open it. She looked up at the houses around her, still mainly untouched by the Autons and saw the Stranger had disappeared from sight. She could just about hear the Doctor talking loudly from the inside of the TARDIS. She knew he wouldn't have noticed if she went away and wondered what he might think of whatever was inside of the paper bag.

Suddenly, Amy felt angry, why should the Doctor care what the Stranger had given her? He said that whatever had gone missing had been unimportant, everything that _he_ had seen as important had been accounted for, but according to the Stranger it was the source of her doubts and worries. That was important to her. Perhaps the Doctor didn't care after all. But Amy also felt angry at the Stranger, he didn't know what she could and couldn't handle; she had seen many things travelling with the Doctor. She could face whatever was inside a paper bag.

The Stranger had warned her to wait until she was ready and for some reason Amy felt ready now, and if she wasn't, how much harm could it really do?

Finally coming to a decision, Amy opened the paper bag and reached inside with a slightly shaking hand. From out of the bag she pulled out a small, red velvet box. Something deep inside Amy's chest seemed to stir as she examined the box closely with wide eyes, as if a creature was trying to awaken from some long dream and a forgotten memory was being re-born. She felt like she had seen it before, but she had no idea where.

As slowly and steadily as possible, Amy opened the box.

Inside was a beautiful, glittering, silver engagement ring, the perfect size for her finger.

Then Amy remembered. She remembered everything.

* * *

_I know in the canon she found the ring and it didn't help her remember, but I had the idea of this happening when I started writing the story and since this is slightly AU I thought I should keep it in :) I hope you liked the chapter, had you expected the Stranger to give Amy her engagement ring?_

_Reviews are much appreciated :)_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Doctor was close to cracking it; so close he could taste it. Things had started off well, but it soon turned out things were more difficult than the Doctor anticipated. Someone had tried to disguise the satellite signals, the TARDIS managed to track them down but it was more complicated technology than the Doctor had expected, as he would have to hack into the main controls to be able to shut the satellite down completely and therefore the Autons. It was a bit of a shock when he and Mr Wells discovered that there was more than one of these satellites orbiting the Earth, which meant it wasn't just the dummies in London that were coming to life, it was all over the world. The Doctor was becoming more and more suspicious of this, it seemed like this was on such a scale the Autons could be used to take over the world, but who would be able do that? It would have been difficult to develop the technology to control one group of mannequins without a Nestene Consciousness, now there were thousands, perhaps millions, all over the world. The Doctor also longed to know who would w_ant_ to do this as well, but he needed to focus on shutting the Autons down first, then find the answers later.

Shutting down the Autons though turned out much easier said than done. It was as if someone knew that something like this might happen, so they had done everything in their power to try and stop it from happening; passwords, codes, deadlocks, everything. For a moment the Doctor wished that Mickey the Idiot was here, he was always good at hacking into computers, even futuristic ones. But of course he wouldn't be able to help, the Doctor hadn't seen him for a lifetime, and he was a universe away. Mr Wells was very helpful though and although it would take more time the passwords and deadlocks were no match compared to the TARDIS. There had been no word from Amy so far, no sign that the Autons knew what was happening and were trying to stop them, yet.

Eventually, after what felt like hours of trying they had reached the last password, the final barrier to shutting the satellites down, and then the Autons would cease to function. There was something more suspicious about this password though, the Doctor could feel it inside his very bones, as if someone had left a secret message for him in the words, but he had no idea what. He stared at the small, ancient-looking screen sitting amongst the TARDIS controls, constantly tapping his finger against it and thinking hard. Mr Wells had fallen silent; knowing the Doctor needed to think, as numbers and letters constantly flashed up onto the screen, some he didn't even recognise to be human, and then were dismissed when they didn't match the password. Like the Doctor, Mr Wells felt that they were so close to reaching their goal, they were only five simple letters away, he could feel excitement building up inside him, they just needed a few more silent moments, and then this nightmare would be over forever.

That was when Amy burst through the TARDIS door.

"Amy!" Said the Doctor, turning from the screen, surprised but happy to see her. "Good news, we're almost there, anything happening with the Autons?"

Amy didn't reply, she didn't even seem to realise that the Doctor had said anything, even when he repeated her name. Her eyes appeared unfocused and her skin was as white as paper. Mr Wells could see that she was thinking about something hard, desperately clawing at the edges of her brain to piece together the last few fragments of the mystery lying scattered in her mind.

Amy didn't listen to the Doctor as he began to follow her around her TARDIS, constantly asking her what was wrong and what she was doing. She knew she probably looked terrible, she felt terrible, but she didn't care about that. Amy raced around the TARDIS, knowing exactly what she was looking for, the velvet box with the ring inside was still clutched tightly in her hand, but in her panic and urgency she couldn't find what she wanted, the other piece of proof she knew had to be around somewhere. She dashed off into the TARDIS, looking for the Doctor's enormous wardrobe, with a sudden feeling that it would be there.

"Mr Wells you keep on working on that password, I'll just go and have a word with Amy," the Doctor said slowly, watching Amy disappear into the TARDIS, he tried to sound calm but the shock and worry was clear in his voice.

By the time the Doctor found Amy, she was standing alone; surrounded by clothes that were hundreds of years young and old. In her hand she clutched a young man's jacket, it wasn't a jacket of the Doctor's but he knew who it belonged to: Rory Williams. The Doctor stepped a little closer, unable to believe what he was seeing: was it possible that Amy had remembered?

"It's him," the Doctor heard Amy mumble to herself, she held the jacket closer to her and buried her face in it. "It's definitely him, I knew it."

"Amy," said the Doctor slowly and carefully, he could tell from the tremor in her voice that there were strong and confusing emotions rushing through her, he had to tread carefully.

Amy looked up at the Doctor, and he immediately knew that even opening his mouth had been a big mistake. Her eyes were dark and bloodshot, her hands were shaking, fresh tears ran down her cheeks and her whole body was tense, as if she was about to explode. There was a moment of silence while Amy recovered enough from the shock from what was happening to remember how to talk.

"You knew," she said, her voice was steady and shaking at the same time. Pure rage burned in her eyes as they narrowed into slits. "You remembered, even though you knew that I had forgotten."

"Rory?" The Doctor knew he had to check to make sure that she was talking about the right person, even though it felt and sounded stupid.

"Who else?" Amy snapped angrily, throwing Rory's jacket at the Doctor, he just managed to duck out the way.

"I'm sorry Amy, there was nothing I could—" He began.

"Nothing?" Amy repeated, shock mixing with the anger in her eyes as she stared at the Doctor. "Nothing!? You think it isn't your fault that Rory's dead? How could you even think that!?" Amy suddenly stormed past the Doctor, walking purposefully into his shoulder with such force that the Doctor was almost knocked backwards.

"Amy, you don't understand," the Doctor quickly chased after Amy, rubbing his shoulder and praying that she hadn't fully remembered everything.

"I don't understand?" Amy stopped dead and turned to face the Doctor. They were now standing in the main part of the TARDIS; Mr Wells stood in the background, watching nervously. "It's _you _who doesn't understand, you can't even begin to realise what I'm going through, and it's all your fault!"

"It's not my fault Amy!" The Doctor argued, following her as she started walking restlessly around the centre of the TARDIS.

"Of course it is, Doctor!" Amy's voice had reached shrieking point, but she hadn't even noticed, all her emotions were pouring out of her, and there was no way she could stop them. "It's your fault Rory's dead, you let him go underground and find those lizard people. You did nothing as he lay there dying on the floor, and then because of your stupid curiosity the crack began to open and it swallowed Rory up! And do you know what the worst part is? You pulled me away from him! I screamed and screamed at you to save him, to stop him dying and being erased from time, but you did nothing. You let me forget and you didn't even try to help me remember. The only man I ever truly loved, and you hid all evidence of him away from me!"

"Amy," the Doctor spoke as calmly as possible, even though his hearts were breaking. "It's understandable that you want to find someone to blame, but please-"

Amy's eyes were as cold as ice as she stopped her constant pacing and turned to the Doctor. "Oh no Doctor, I know perfectly why you are to blame." She spoke with deadly calm.

"There was no way I could help you remember Amy, and I didn't hide anything from you." The Doctor continued, hoping that his beloved friend would be able to see sense. All her grieving had come at once, along with confusion and anger.

"What's this then?" Amy demanded, shoving her engagement right under his nose. "You tell me nothing, you hide everything from me, even your name!"

"How did you get that?" The Doctor asked cautiously, ignoring what Amy had just said.

"Someone gave it to me, but what does it matter? It means nothing because Rory's gone and it clearly meant nothing to you!" Amy snapped, despair filling her voice.

"But I had that in the TARDIS all the time, how could anyone find that and give it to you? Did you find it?" It seemed that the Doctor had completely forgotten that Amy was standing before him, all his worry now focused on the ring, which made her fury grow.

"Do I mean nothing to you?!" Amy screamed at the Doctor, "who cares where I got the ring from? It was Rory who got it for me in the first place because he loved me, and now thanks to you, he's gone forever! Not even your magic time travelling tricks will be able to bring him back to me. It's your entire fault! And you don't even care! He was right to doubt you! You're a heartless monster! I HATE YOU!"

And before the Doctor could say or do anything else or questions the 'he' Amy spoke of, she had ran to the TARDIS door, yanked it open and rushed out into the night, without one look back. As Amy ran into the darkness and slowly disappeared from view, the Doctor thought she heard her burst into hysteric tears. The shock of what had just happened glued his feet to the floor, his mind was a blur. Where had this come from, how could this have happened? Amy had been acting strange from the very moment they had stepped foot in London, and now, somehow, she had remembered everything. His ancient hearts cracked and bled as he thought that maybe she was right, maybe it was all his fault.

"I have to go after her," the Doctor told the silent Mr Wells standing behind him. "I can't leave her out there. You have to stay here and work on stopping the Autons."

"I understand Doctor," Mr Wells replied in a small voice, "I think the TARDIS has managed to work out what the password is."

"Good." But the Doctor's voice didn't sound grateful or relieved.

"Don't you want to hear what it is?" Mr Wells asked hopefully.

At first the Doctor shook his head, but then something inside him told him it was worth a waste of a few precious seconds to hear what it was as something in the back of his head told him that it was important. He nodded silently, and Mr Wells told him.

After that, everything made sense.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Amy wasn't sure where she was running to, but she didn't care, as long it was away from him and his stupid blue box that had hidden so much from her. She was right to have doubted him, after he let the only person she ever loved drift away from her, not only from her life, but from all her memories. Now everything had come flooding back into her mind and flickered through her head like a broken television. Moments when she laughed with Rory, moments when she cried with him, times when they simply held hands and the time when she was dragged away from him for the very last time as he was erased from history. The images left her confused, upset and angry. Now Amy wanted nothing else to be far away from the Doctor. He may deny it but it was all his fault. The Stranger was right, he should never have been trusted.

The world had already fallen dark and silent by the time Amy had left the TARDIS in her blind rage. All she could hear were the pounding of her own footsteps, her harsh breathing and an angry voice racing round and round her head with nowhere else to go. Some buildings were still burning, others were nothing more than smoking rubble while the Autons were nowhere to be seen. But Amy didn't care. All the streets she rushed down were completely the empty, it was as if the world had died with Rory.

Before Amy could stop herself, the tears came. Tears of anger and sorrow for losing Rory, _her _Rory. She had forgotten him so quickly after his sudden death she hadn't even had time to mourn. She missed him terribly, even though she had only remembered that he had existed a few minutes ago, and the realisation that he was never even born made her choke on bitter-tasting tears. She cried out his name as if that would somehow bring him back to her, but she knew full well that that would never happen. The thought just made her broken heart shatter into even smaller pieces; she could almost feel the aching sorrow inside her. Everything was a blur and she felt nothing but pain.

Amy didn't know how long she ran, she didn't want to stop running, but something out of the darkness suddenly slammed into her, it felt like hitting a brick wall and she stumbled a little. Amy tried to turn and run on but whatever was in her way had grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and she couldn't escape its grasp.

"Amy?" Said a voice Amy recognised as the Stranger's.

"Leave me alone," she cried at the Stranger, but she was still choking on her own tears and her lungs were burning, making it difficult to speak. She tried to avert her eyes from the Stranger's. She could feel them boring into her as she tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he maintained a tight grip.

"You've remembered," Amy couldn't work out the tone of voice of the Stranger; it was a mix between sadness, bitterness, anger and perhaps even happiness. He too was hiding something from her, but Amy was too distressed to notice.

"Let me go!" She begged, but at the same time she was glad she had someone to be with, she wasn't totally alone with the world any more.

"If I do, where are you going to run? You've got nowhere to go, it's dangerous out here." The Stranger pointed out, "I can take you somewhere safe Amy," and before Amy could respond he was leading her out of the main street and into one of his dark alleyways. Once they were there he let of her arm, but she felt too drained of energy to run any more. "What are you going to do?" The Stranger asked.

"I, I don't know," Amy admitted between sobs. "I don't know where I can go. I'm lost in an alien world, I don't want to go back to the Doctor, not after what he did, but without him I'm, I'm stuck here!"

"Do you see now? Do you see why I followed you all that time and warned you of the Doctor, he's already taken things away from you, destroyed your life like he has done to so many others. Who knows how long it will be before he does it again to someone else?"

"Stop it," Amy grumbled, tears were still falling but she managed to get her breathing under control. "I know I've made a mistake, I know what the Doctor can do, but I'm stuck here with him. I can't go back home, I don't know if I have a home here or how to get there. What can I do?"

"I could take you back home," the Stranger offered. "I've shown you I can time travel like the Doctor, I can take you back to your time."

"I don't think I have a home without Rory," Amy admitted weakly, she knew it probably sounded pathetic, but when she said it she realised it was true.

Then something peculiar happened. Amy couldn't tell how much she could trust this Stranger, and even if she could trust him she didn't like him, but she had never thought that he would be one to provide comfort, she didn't think that the Stranger would be able to do such a thing, in her opinion he felt nothing other than an obsessive hate towards the Doctor. But to her surprise, the Stranger put an arm around her and before she knew it Amy was sobbing into his shoulder in something she supposed was some sort of one armed hug. It felt like she was being hugged by someone who had never done such a thing before.

Amy could tell that the Stranger felt uncomfortable in this situation, in fact so did she, and she was scared of being so close to him after what he had done to the poor girl, who was still lying somewhere in that house. But she was grateful for the small amount of comfort he could offer, and there was nowhere else in this desolate side of London that she would be able to find someone to confide in. After all, he was on her side, he was the one who helped her remember Rory, right?

"You must be angry with the Doctor." The Stranger said softly, his voice close to Amy's ear.

"What do you think?" Amy snapped angrily at the Stranger, finally drawing away from him, his voice seemed to bring her back to reality and remind her that she might be hugging a monster. She couldn't see his expression as a shadow had been drawn over his face, but she expected he was relieved that he didn't have comfort her any more. "I hate him for what he did to Rory, to me."

"So, you no longer care about him?" The Stranger asked, she didn't notice the sound of pleasure in his voice or the small smile that flickered across his face.

"No." Amy replied bitterly, rubbing her eyes to try and stop the tears, but it just seemed to back them worse.

"Would you want him to pay for what he did to you?" This time Amy noticed the odd tone in the Stranger's voice, it sounded like greed, hunger.

"I…I suppose so." Amy admitted, she still did feel angry towards the Doctor, but the Stranger's voice was starting to unnerve her, she hadn't considered performing an act of revenge.

The Stranger's eyes gleamed as he saw the anger and sorrow still present on Amy's face for her precious Rory. There was a short pause.

"Would you kill him?" Asked the Stranger into the silence.

"W, what?" Amy was so surprised by the question, that she stopped crying and stepped back a pace.

"Would you? After all the things that he did to you, all the times he lied to you. All the things he has done throughout time, destroying entire races and the lives of people that they thought could trust him, people like you and Rory."

The Stranger began to advance towards Amy; she could see the madness in his eyes and the terrible grin on his face. A low, dark chuckle sent a shiver down her spine, and she began to back away from him, afraid.

"Would you put an end to his life of brutality?" He continued, ignoring the fear in Amy's eyes. "Would you put the most feared man in Universe to death once and for all?"

Amy stared, horrified at the Stranger, it was as if he had transformed before her. He was no longer a mysterious man trying to help someone uncover the truth, he was a maniac, inhuman. "This has been your aim all the time hasn't it?" She blurted out, "you wanted to show me his secrets and his lies so in the end I would be so angry I would want to kill the Doctor!"

"Do you?" The Stranger demanded. "If it could change everything, if it could bring back Rory, if it could stop the suffering of hundreds, would you kill him?"

"Go on Amy, answer his question, would you?"

Amy spun around when she heard the voice coming from the end of the alleyway, a voice she knew so well. She saw the silhouette of the Doctor standing before her, leaning casually on the side of one of the houses. His eyes were fixed on the Stranger. The Doctor walked further into the alleyway, now Amy was standing between the Doctor and the Stranger, she looked wildly between the two, but both were silent as they stared at each other.

Finally, the Doctor spoke, his eyes were still completely focused on the Stranger, but he talked to her in a calm, almost casual voice.

"Amy, may I introduce you to the Master?" He said. "He's an old friend of mine."


	19. Chapter 19

_We're close to the end of the story now people! An extra long chapter for you this time, which will hopefully explain everything now it has finally been revealed who the Stranger really is...hope you like it, reviews are much appreciated :)_

* * *

Chapter 19

There was a moment of silence, so tense the whole world seemed to be holding its breath and time itself had frozen. The Doctor looked perfectly calm, but his eyes burned with fire as he stared, unblinking, at the Master. Amy glanced between him and the Stranger, now called the Master, utterly confused. She tried to think of something to say, but there seemed to be nothing she could do to break this silence or the intensity. She felt like she wanted to run away, but she didn't want to leave the Doctor alone with this man, and it was time some questions were answered.

In the end, it was the Master who broke the silence, with a dark smile and a low chuckle.

"I wondered how long it would take you to find out I was here, Doctor." he said; he almost sounded happy, as if to him the whole thing was a game.

"I can tell when you're near, even if you're miles away." The Doctor replied coolly.

"That's strange, because most of the time I've been only a few metres away, hiding in nothing but shadows, and yet you saw nothing, you suspected nothing." The Master sounded equally as cool. "Let me ask you, what was it in the end that made you realise I was here?"

"Well, I knew from the start there was something wrong about Amy, as if someone was getting into her head, and you're best at doing things like that." The Doctor explained, his voice and expression unchanged. Amy couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that he was talking as if she wasn't there. "And the last password gave it away too: D, R, U, M, S. Who else is so obsessed with the sound of drums?"

"I knew you would come here Doctor," the Master hissed, "You always come and find trouble, you'd realise something was wrong here and you'd try to stop it. So I decided to leave a little message for you to let you know I was here. I do love putting fear into your hearts."

"How are you not dead?" The Doctor asked, hastily changing the subject. Amy wondered if the Master was right when he said his presence made the Doctor afraid. "Last time I saw you you were tumbling back into the Time War to be lost forever."

"And yet here I am." Said the Master, throwing out his arms, Amy ducked down as if she thought he was going to attack, but quickly straightened up again. He laughed, his eyes still fixed on the Doctor. "Fantastic isn't it? Being alive, though I did have a price to pay for it. There was something you didn't know about the Time Lords you left behind to perish Doctor, they were planning their escape. They created time capsules to help drive them out of the Time War, some refused to leave but others wanted to run away. The Daleks knew what we were doing, so they destroyed the time capsules, apart from one, because I had already stolen it and was already speeding away from the destruction of our world, _your_ destruction. I wasn't the only one who managed to escape however, there was another."

"But I had seen those time capsules, they weren't good enough, especially for long journeys, they weren't ready, they would have burned up." The Doctor pointed out.

"Very true Doctor, I learnt quickly that they did indeed burn."

"And I can guess what happened to the other Time Lord." The Doctor added solemnly.

"The other Time Lord was weak," the Master spat, "so I stole his generations. I knew I would put them to more use than he did, than he ever would. He'd used up half of them already before I slipped the knife into his throat." The Master grinned again at the thought, at the memory, but then his face grew calm again. "Of course, I didn't get out of the capsule with no injuries, even now I can't go near the light, because it burns my skin like fire. It tore me apart from the inside."

"And you blame me for this?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes, because it was all your fault!" The Master snapped angrily, and he threw back his hood. Amy gasped to see his face for the first time. His dark eyes were wild, mad and blood shot; his hair was jet black and his skin a dirty grey colour in the shadow of the alleyway. He looked like someone not long dead whose corpse had started walking again. "You could have killed me, you could have killed all the other Time Lords, but you didn't, you just stood there. Unable to decide what was the right thing to do, and for a few moments I trusted you and I knew you had to survive, so I took place as the sacrifice. I had destroyed my body so you could live another day. You have no idea how angry that made me, and with every minute my body burned instead of yours my anger grew. I swore revenge as I tried to keep myself alive, ending up on this pathetic little planet and having to feast off the humans, taking their organs for my own use. I was waiting for the moment when I would be spotted, but everyone in this pathetic side of the City already knew that I was lurking in the shadows, stories spread and they were afraid of me, so they ran."

"So because of one decision you made so many years ago you want me to kill the Doctor?" Amy said weakly, speaking for the first time after the Doctor had appeared. "You wanted _me_ to take revenge?"

"Well I had to get rid of him somehow?" The Master replied, looking down at Amy before turning back to the Doctor. "And who better than a friend he so dearly loved? I think it would have hurt you so badly you wouldn't want to regenerate."

"So why are you telling me this now then?" The Doctor asked, still perfectly calm, even though the Master's words rang with the truth. "Why not kill me right here, right now? This is a superb opportunity, I'm unarmed, you're always armed and like you say, I have few regenerations left."

"Because you've always got that stupid sonic screwdriver on you and you may say you're unarmed but you always lie. I'm telling you these things because you wanted to know, and do you have any idea how long I have been drifting through the shadows, alone? I needed to talk to someone." The Master explained with a shrug. He didn't tell the Doctor that keeping him talking was the perfect distraction.

"How did you get to this time period then? You must have fallen out of space, out of time with that time capsule, you could have gone anywhere, and yet you landed here. That's too much of a coincidence for me." The Doctor pointed out.

"Never ignore coincidence, unless you're busy." Said the Master, mimicking the Doctor's voice. "It's true Doctor, I didn't just come here. I was rescued from the time capsule by a passing space ship, to my shame. But on there I encountered a certain Captain Jack Harkness, he didn't see me but I saw him and his vortex manipulator. It didn't work, but he kept it for some sentimental reason, of course I could fix it, so that's exactly what I did, once I had stolen it.

"After that I left the ship and came to Earth to do a little travelling, I knew that you were going to be somewhere on this planet, you have an unhealthy attachment to it in my opinion. You have no idea the emotions that went through me when I saw you step out of your silly little TARDIS. I was curious to meet your new assistant Amy, so I went back and looked at her history with you, and I discovered what you did to Rory. You remember him, don't you Doctor? Because we're Time Lords, and time bends to _our_ will, however much you may deny that. I knew this pretty dead boy would be the perfect opportunity to strike, it would turn her into the perfect weapon."

"Doesn't explain the Autons though," the Doctor commented, once again changing the subject and sounding casual but his eyes were piercing through the Master's armour of deception. "You're the only person here and you're the only person who would probably be able to plan and control such an army. So why did you?"

"Very good Doctor," said the Master patronisingly. "You got most of it right, apart from the fact that you think I'm acting alone, but I am not. As I found myself in twenty first century London I discovered that some people were making these Autons, designing them on the sightings of living plastic dummies in 2005. You should always be careful when you give a lot of money to a lot of stupid people, they will try to live forever as you and I witnessed, but they will also want their own army of plastic killers. I offered to help them if they promised me to share in some of their riches, there's always someone trying to take over the world, have you noticed? They were too foolish to realise however that as soon as the world was invaded by their mannequins I would take over their plans and take the world for my own. I think that would break your hearts too, Doctor."

"You do know I'll stop you."

"Oh I'm sure you won't Doctor, because as we speak I have armies all over the world taking over some of the most powerful cities there have been. There's no stopping them now, and you don't seem to be putting in a very good effort as you're standing here talking to me."

"It's already over Master," the Doctor replied, almost apologetically.

"I don't think so," said the Master, he was smiling but for a few moments it faltered as doubt flickered in his eyes.

"You didn't think about Mr Wells at all, did you? No, you just saw him as a small human, nothing significant, but there is something special about him : he has something worth fighting for, and he's more intelligent than people give him credit for. He's helped me crack the final codes and now you can no longer control the Autons from your satellites. I'm sorry, but you've failed."

"You're lying," the Master said harshly, his smile gone.

"Go and look out in the street, you'll see the Autons lying there, useless and motionless. Hadn't you wondered why it's been so quiet? Didn't you question how I knew your final password to the satellite control was 'drums'?"

The Master froze for a moment, he knew what the Doctor said was true, he could tell when the Doctor was lying and he could tell when a plan of his had been destroyed. He had thought he was being so clever letting the Doctor stand and listen to his stories while the Autons invaded, but it had been the other way round, the Doctor had let him talk while the Autons were destroyed. The thought made him angry, and his hand moved as subtly as possible under his cloak, but the Doctor noticed.

"Amy get out of here," he told her in a low but urgent voice.

Amy turned to leave, but the Master was quicker. With a flash he pulled from under his cloak a dagger which glinted in the darkness, probably the same weapon he'd used to cut open his victims. The Master grabbed Amy by the shoulder, his grip was so strong that she couldn't escape, and he pinned her against the wall, the knife to her throat.

"Turn the Autons back on." Threatened the Master.

"Let her go," the Doctor tried to remain calm but there was panic in his face and voice.

"Turn the Autons back on," the Master repeated, a smile growing across his face; he knew he was winning.

"Don't worry Amy, he won't hurt you," said the Doctor as comfortingly as possible.

"Are you sure?" The Master held the knife closer to Amy's throat. Amy gasped as she felt the cold metal bite into her skin, she gripped the knife and tried to push it away from her throat, but the Master was too strong. She tired not to panic, but she couldn't stop shaking.

There was a long silence, the Doctor was trapped, he didn't know what to do. The Master grinned, he knew in that moment he had won. Very soon the Doctor would give in, he couldn't see one of his precious companions die, and when he did, the Master would kill both of them and soon the world would be his with no one else to stop him.

But there was something that the Master hadn't been expecting.

Amy may have said very little, she may have coward between the two great Time Lords while they talked, but she wasn't stupid. She had been watching very closely and she had been thinking hard. While the Master had been talking, he had flung his arms out wide, and neither he nor the Doctor had spotted the small packet of matches that had fallen from his robe. Amy had, and she didn't miss the opportunity to duck down and pick them up, the Master thought she had been cowering because she was scared, but with matches in her hand she didn't feel so afraid. As slowly as possible, she drew a match from the box, watching the Doctor carefully. The Master didn't know what Amy had in mind, but the Doctor did.

"You can't do this!" The Doctor said suddenly and angrily, turning and kicking a dustbin that stood in the alleyway. It fell with a loud clatter, loud enough to conceal the noise of a match being struck.

The Master smiled; he loved it when the Doctor was angry, especially when he had won, it was like his trophy. He opened his mouth to say something when he felt something burning his skin. He turned to see Amy holding a burning match out before her; the small flame flickered angrily as she dropped it on his cloak.

"No!" The Master cried, jumping away from Amy and hastily beating out the fire with his hands, trying not to cry out in agony. When he looked up again, he saw that he had dropped the knife, and the Doctor was holding his sonic screwdriver out in front of him.

"Sorry Master, but I'm not letting you hurt anyone else and this world is not for you." Said the Doctor, sadness in his voice.

It was in that moment that the Master realised he had not won, he had lost.

Crying out with rage, the Master lashed out suddenly at Amy, there was a flurry of cloaks and ginger hair as the Doctor lost sight of the two of them in the scuffle. Suddenly Amy fell to the ground with a cry of surprise and pain, clutching her leg. She didn't have a serious injury, but the Master had the dagger in his hand again and was raising it above his head, preparing to strike.

However the Doctor got there first. With a whiz of the sonic screw driver the dagger flew out of the Master's hand and he leapt in between the two.

"Amy! Are you all right?" He asked quickly, pulling her up before the Master could attack again.

"I'm fine," Amy replied quickly, "he tried to break my leg! But I think I can put weight on it. Where's—"

They both turned round just to see the Master running out of the alleyway into the distance, vortex manipulator in hand. With a small flash of electric blue light, he disappeared from sight.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The sun burned a beautiful golden yellow in the sky, Amy had forgotten it could shine so bright and give so much warmth, the sight of it was also a comfort that the Master wouldn't be coming back any time soon.

It was the day after the Doctor had encountered the Master and then watched him run into the night and disappear once more. The Autons were still lying motionless in the streets where they fell after the Doctor had successfully shut down the satellite, but the whole City didn't seemed to have lost its shadows and secrets. The world was no longer hiding this part of London away in the dark and Amy began to notice certain things for the first time; a blossoming tree on the corner of a street, the blue sky and even a bird sitting upon a roof top singing.

Amy, Mr Wells and the Doctor were standing outside the TARDIS, soaking up the warmth and the bird's hopeful singing for the new day before they left and said their goodbyes.

"I knew you weren't the type of people who would stay in one place for long." Mr Wells admitted, he couldn't hide the sadness in his voice. "Do you have to leave so soon?"

"Afraid so," the Doctor replied, tapping the side of the TARDIS happily, he was always glad to get away.

"What am I supposed to do without you?" Mr Wells asked, almost desperately. "I don't even have a job anymore, I'm all alone."

"I don't think so," the Doctor said. "You've still got all those Autons to take apart and put away, we don't want anyone trying to try and put them to use again. People will start to realise what really happened here, they will start to investigate and you'll be right here to help them, you'll be essential. People will decide that it will be safe to come back here and you can see your family again. Then you've got to help rebuild this part of London, make it a worth while place to live."

"I don't think I can do all that alone, Doctor."

"Of course you can! I never had a doubt about you and you'll soon realise the opportunities you'll have for rebuilding a new and better life, not just for you and your family, but for everyone here. You haven't got a moment to waste!" The Doctor grinned, and it was not a terrible grin that the Master would give, it was a grin that matched the sunshine and spread to the people around him.

"You're right," said Mr Wells, suddenly feeling a lot more confident about the future. "Absolutely right, I've never really thought I would be able to make a difference, but I've always wanted to change this part of London, I've got so many ideas and I want the world to see that this place is not cursed, as I thought it was for so long."

"We'll come back in a few years," the Doctor told him. "See how you're getting on, but you don't need any more help from us for now.

"We'll leave the hard stuff and the credit to you," Amy added, smiling.

Mr Wells nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, it won't be easy but I'm prepared to do. And you will come back to visit, I'll make sure of it. I may be small, but I'll help change my part of the world."

"Good luck Mr Wells," said the Doctor, grinning even more, but then he paused. "You know, I don't think I ever asked you what your first name was..." He began, and it was true, he and Amy had been so distracted by the Autons and other mysterious strangers they had never got round to asking Mr Wells what his name was.

"Arthur," said Arthur Wells with a smile.

"Arthur! Marvelous, mythical! And plenty of other 'M's I'm sure!" Cried the Doctor enthusiastically. "Well, good luck then, Arthur Wells." And he held out his hand to shake.

To Amy and the Doctor's surprise, Arthur Wells ignored the outstretched hand and pulled them both into a tight embrace. He had always felt a little afraid of the Doctor and Amy, the strangers who had emerged out of the shadows at such a dark time and seemed to awaken the monsters around him, but now he realised what a blessing they had been.

"All the best, Mr Wells," added Amy, returning the hug.

"Please, my friends call me Arthur," Arthur Wells replied as the three of them broke apart, and he knew, whether he would see them again or not, that he had made friends for life.

"Goodbye then, Arthur!" Amy said.

"And good luck!" The Doctor added as he unlocked the TARDIS door. Arthur Wells was already turning away with a final wave and rushing back up the street, muttering about how there was so much work to do and so little time, the grin never fading from his face.

After Mr Wells was little more than a speck in the distance (it was a lot easier to see more of London now that the dark clouds had gone) Amy turned back to the Doctor, and there was sadness in her eyes. She didn't want to say it, she didn't want to think it, but she had to face the consequences of her actions. After all, it was for the best.

"I suppose this is goodbye for us too." She said.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, confused.

"You'll be taking me back home. I don't deserve to travel with you any more, I know you're probably angry with me too. I lost my trust in you and almost got you killed by that…monster, I almost got myself killed."

"Is that what you really want?" The Doctor questioned, gazing into Amy's eyes. "To go back home?"

"Of course not," Amy said quickly, "but I know it's going to happen."

"You think I just abandon people when they make one small mistake? It was my fault, Amy, I let you lose trust in me and I hid things from you that I shouldn't have, and that was wrong of me. But I enjoy your company Amy, I love it, our adventures aren't over yet, we've got so much more to discover and we've got no time to lose!" The Doctor grinned again, opening the TARDIS door as he did so. But then her paused and there was sadness in his eyes too. "I don't think Rory would want you to give up the adventure."

Amy gave a sad smile at this, but she also felt a wave of relief as the Doctor said this, she loved travelling with him and she was surprised that he admitted that he loved it too. He had forgiven her for everything she did. Should she forgive him for Rory's death? It would take so much time for that pain to heal but now she thought about it, she realised it wasn't all the Doctor's fault. You always need someone to blame, but the Doctor was the wrong person to blame, there were some things in time and space not even a Time Lord could control.

Amy was about to enter the TARDIS with the Doctor, when another thought came to mind and she paused.

"What is it?" The Doctor asked, turning in the TARDIS doorway to look at her, concerned.

"Will the Master ever come back?" Amy asked tentatively.

"Come back?" The Doctor laughed, but it was a hollow, bitter laugh. "I can never get rid of him! But at the moment he's on the run from probably very angry people who he's failed, they'll want someone to blame for the Autons breaking down. He's also got a broken body to fix and can hide anywhere and when with the vortex manipulator. No, we won't be seeing him for a while, but I don't think he'll ever be gone forever. Shall we be off then?" The Doctor said quickly, before he could ponder on this thought for too long, his usual enthusiasm returning. "I want to see how Arthur's doing with London in a few years time."

"Just one more thing." Amy said, and the Doctor waited patiently for her question. "No more secrets?" She asked, tentatively.

"I've always kept secrets from people Amy, that's just something you have to accept." The Doctor replied solemnly. "Sometimes there are secrets even I don't know the answers too, but I won't hide any information that's personal to you, Amy, I promise."

"You'll never tell me everything?" Amy asked, sadly, she was half pleased and half disappointed with his response.

The Doctor paused. "Maybe, perhaps one day, when the time is right. Then I'll tell you everything."

And then the Doctor and Amy stepped into the TARDIS, and after a few seconds they vanished from sight, leaving dark secrets and monsters behind them as they were flung into a new adventure. Just how the Doctor likes it.

The End

* * *

_Yep, that's the end everyone! I hope you've enjoyed the story! Not the best fanfic I've ever written I don't think, but I was glad to get round to editing and improving it :) The Master and the Autons are two elements of the show I would love to see return, and hopefully one day they will!_

_Special thanks to everyone who read, alerted, favourited and, of course, reviewed, it is always much appreciated :)_

_If anyone would like to read more of my stuff I have plenty of other fanfictions on here, both Doctor Who and non-Doctor Who, feel free to give them a read if you like and let me know what you think :)_

_In the meantime, keep wearing those bow-ties and enjoy the 50th Anniversary!_

_Thanks again, all the best,_

_Naisa x_


End file.
